Like Fire and Ice
by Eladard Kikur
Summary: When Eliwood vists an old friend, their sons will form an unlikely friendship.
1. On the Road to Altea

The warm summer air lingers over the countryside as a richly decorated carriage travels down the road. Inside are two individuals. A man in a blue uniform and cloak is sitting down, deeply into a novel. He has reddish hair that's spiky in every direction. His young son is sitting across from him. Just like his father, the boy has the same spiky reddish hair. But his hair is more wild then his father's. The boy was wearing a red shirt and cloak instead of blue like his father. This young child was constantly fidgeting in his seat for he could not bear to be confined inside the carriage. The child looked out the window and watched lazily as the countryside passed by. 

"Dad... I'm bored!" the boy whined lazily. His father didn't look up, for he was very into the novel. Sighing, the boy didn't want to give up. "Dad...", he raised the volume of his voice slightly. Still, his father didn't look up. "Dad, Dad, Dad, DAD, DAD...!" The boy kept calling for his father while his voice crescendoed until he was practically shouting at the top of his lungs. 

"ROY!" his father shouted after slamming the book shut. The child, who we now know is Roy, looked up cheerfully. "What is it?" he asked Roy while trying not to lose his temper. 

"Are we THERE yet?!" Roy replied. He looked up with pleading eyes, hoping that they were a few steps from their destination. 

"No... not yet", his father sighed. He rubbed his temples, asking himself why Roy decided to ask that tedious question for the umpteenth time. He wished that Roy would just behave and not annoy him for once. 

"Darn! It's been FOREVER since we've left Pherae!" Roy complained. He looked down at the floor and swung his legs back and forth while pouting. "When are we gonna get there?! I'm tired of being cooped up here! I wanna run around! And I'm thirsty! And hungry! " 

"We'll get there soon, Roy", his father said in a tired tone. _We BETTER get there soon..._ he thought to himself _...because I don't think that I can handle Roy's bellyaching any longer..._

Roy just sighed and looked out the window again. He just stared out at the country scene until he heard his father talk to the driver outside. 

"How much longer until we arrive?" 

"Ohh, I'd say about another half hour or so, Lord Eliwood", the driver replied. 

"That's good! I say that we've made some good progress on this trip!" Eliwood said cheerfully. He glanced over at Roy, who looked at Eliwood with pleading eyes again. 

"Daaaad... I'm hungry...!" Roy whined again. 

"I think there's a small market nearby, young Roy", said the driver. "We can stop there to get some more supplies." 

Roy smiled and sat back down in his seat, while Eliwood returned to his book. 


	2. The Awaiting Child

Inside a majestic castle, a young girl was in her room, fixing her hair. She had soft blue hair and appeared to be around 8 or 9. Her room was decorated in soft earth-tones and there were a lot of plushies on her bed. As she stood before a mirror, a simple rap at the door turned her attention over to the door. Don. Don. Don. Very softly was the knock and there was a small pause between each one. She immediately knew who it was. Yes, there's no mistaking the distinctive knock. Soft and timid, just like her younger brother. As she walked over to open the door, a small yet timid voice spoke outside the door.

"Sis? May I come in? ...If you're not busy or anything... If you are, I'm sorry for bugging you."

She immediately opened the door and her brother walked in. Just like his sister, he too had blue hair. It was brushed neatly and his bangs fell slightly over his baby blue eyes. He wore an outfit that made him look like an aristocrat from the old ages, complete with a heavy jacket that was a navy blue. The whole outfit was blue, which seems to be the boy's favorite color. He's face was very pale and glazed with a thing coat of perspiration, due to the summer heat.

"Do I... look ok? Well... I... um... I wanted to look nice for our guests... I look terrible, don't I?" the boy asked his sister.

"Don't be silly, Marthy! You look fabulous! But I don't think it's a good idea to wear that on a warm day like this...", she answered while looking at the jacket. Her brother, Marth, just looked down at the carpet. His pale face began to flush slightly, either due to the heat or from embarrassment. 

"But... but... but Ellis, this is the _only_ nice outfit I have. Everything else is too... plain", he mumbled under his breath. He still looked at the floor.

"Just because Dad's friend is coming to visit, it doesn't mean that you can't wear anything casual. Go back and change into some shorts and T-shirt, ok?" Ellis told Marth. He just sighed and walked out of the room with his head hung low. The door slowly closed as he left the room. Ellis just shook her head while grinning. Marth always worried about his appearance. Ellis liked to joke with him about that, saying that it always takes him a lot longer to get ready than it does for her (which, by the way, is quite true).

Ellis resumed to fixing her hair into a ponytail until she heard Marth knock again. This time, he came in wearing a light blue T-shirt and a pair of denim shorts along with a pair of blue tennis shoes. He looked quite different than in the other outfit. Marth was very thin for his age and there was a noticeable pallor to him. That's from the fact that he rarely goes outside to play. He preferred indoor activities like drawing over outdoor ones like running around.

"How does... this look?" Marth asked shyly. He looked up at her then back to the floor. "...I look terrible, huh?"

"You don't look terrible, Marthy!" Ellis replied. "You look very cute! There, don't you feel a lot cooler wearing that over the other outfit?"

"Kinda..." he mumbled. "I'm just... you know... a little... scared."

"Why do you feel scared?" Ellis asked.

"Well... I... uh... um... I guess it's because he's Dad's friend and I want to make a good... impression... I think..." Marth was still looking at the floor and his face was flushing even more. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and tried not to make eye contact with Ellis. His eyes were beginning to get a little watery, for he kept blinking repeatedly.

"Don't cry, Marthy. Don't cry", Ellis said in a soothing tone. He flushed a little more because he failed at suppressing his tears.

"Um... I guess Dad is going to just talk about grown-up stuff with him. How long is his friend going to be here?" Marth asked. Whenever their father has a friend over, they just talk for hours about "grown-up stuff": politics. Ellis and Marth rarely stay in the same room with the adults when they discuss various political topics. Ellis goes outside to play; Marth stays in his room and plays with his large collection of plushies or any other indoor activity.

"I don't think they'll do that much... I heard Dad say that his friend is bringing his son over here too", Ellis answered back. "Dad also mentioned that they'll be staying with us for the entire summer! Wouldn't that be cool, Marthy?"

The color from Marth's face went from bright red to extremely pale from the news. _The ENTIRE summer?! _he thought to himself. _That's TOO long! I thought that they'll be staying for only a day or two!_

"Err... are you ok? Marthy? Marthy?" Ellis asked. She shook Marth slightly for he was lost in thought. He blinked a few times and looked up at her. The look on his face told Ellis that there's no way he could handle nearly 3 months with two strangers.

"I-I-I-I'll just go to my room now..." Marth said very quietly. He ran out of Ellis' room and slammed his own bedroom door shut. Ellis sighed and walked out of her room and headed towards the living room. _Geez, I hope that Marthy'll be alright..._ Ellis thought to herself. _Poor baby brother..._


	3. The Arrival

Pacing back and forth, Marth and Ellis' father was anxiously waiting for the arrival of Eliwood and Roy. He was nicely dressed in a suit and blue cloak. When Ellis entered the beautifully decorated living room, her father turned his head and looked at her. 

"There you are, Ellis!" he said cheerfully. "You look really nice for our guests!" 

"Thank you, Dad", she replied. "When do you think that Lord Eliwood'll arrive?" 

"Hmm, I'd say in about a few minutes" her father answered back. He resumed his pacing while Ellis threw him a confused look. It's been long since her father and Eliwood came together and it's no wonder why he felt a bit nervous. 

"Dad, I think that you should relax a little bit! Just sit down, ok?" Ellis told him in a very concerned tone. 

"Nah, it's alright! I'm quite fine! By the way... where's your brother at? Is he _still_ getting ready?" he asked. 

"Marthy locked himself in his room _again_. He kinda panicked when I told him how long they'll be staying..." her voice trailed off as Marth entered the room. His pallor was even more noticeable than earlier, as if he just saw a ghost while coming over to the living room. Marth headed over to a couch and flopped down on it then he let out a heavy sigh. 

"Son... what's wrong? Are you ok?" his father asked Marth. 

"I... I... I saw something... outside the castle... " Marth seemed to be deathly afraid of what was awaiting outside. He was trembling with fright and he kept looking around as if a madman was lurking nearby. 

Jeigan approached Marth with a glass of water for him. Jeigan is an elderly man who takes care of Marth from time to time. In a way, he's like a grandfather to Marth. The aghast prince immediately took long, deep drinks of the water. He mumbled a "Thank you", feeling relaxed and no longer afraid. 

Inside the carriage, Roy was snacking on some cookies that he got at the pit stop while Eliwood was going over some last-minute details. 

"Now remember, Roy. Be on your best behavior! Don't talk back and don't act up, got it?" Eliwood said sternly. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever...", Roy groaned while rolling his eyes. He ate another cookie, showing indifference about the rules. 

"Well, if that's how you're going to act... maybe you should be sent back home", said Eliwood. He folded his arms and glared at Roy sternly. 

"WHAT?! NO WAY! It was so BORING coming over here! There's NO WAY I'm going to be sent back home!" Roy cried. He looked up at Eliwood with pleading eyes, hoping that he'd change his mind. 

They exited the carriage and walked up to the entrance of the castle. Jeigan opened the door for them and lead them into the living room. Ellis, her father, and Marth looked up at the guests. 

"Eliwood! It's so good to see you again, buddy!" 

"Corneilius! Been a while since we've met!" 

Both men ran up to each other and gave each other a great bear hug. Roy just looked over at Ellis and Marth (who was hidden by the couch). 

"This is my son, Roy. C'mon over here... This is my friend Corneilius. Show some respect, ok Roy?" Eliwood told Roy. Roy shook Corneilius' hand and smiled at him. 

"Hello, there", Roy told Corneilius. 

"It's nice to finally meet you", he replied. He then turned towards Eliwood. "Your son's very polite. I'd like you to meet my daughter, Ellis. Ellis, can you come over here?" 

Ellis walked over to Eliwood and Roy, bowing her head. "Hello, Lord Eliwood. Hello, Roy." 

"What's up?" Roy replied. He grasped Ellis' hand and shook it. 

"Also, I'd like you to meet my son. Marth, can you come over here?" Corneilius continued. He looked over towards Marth and noticed that he was trying to keep himself out of view. "Sorry, he's a very shy boy." 

"It's ok. I'm sure that he'll grow to like us", Eliwood answered. 

Roy headed over to Marth, who tensed up. The timid prince tried to hide, hoping that Roy wouldn't see him. Roy just looked at Marth with a confused expression on his face. 

"Are you Marth?" Roy asked him. 

"Um... uh... " Marth replied. 

"Well, ARE you?" 

"Y-yeah, I am" 

"Huh... That's kinda... Um, how should I say this? You don't look like a 'Marth' to me", said Roy. 

"I don't? W-w-what do you mean by that?" Marth asked. 

"It's just kinda odd... A girl named 'Marth', how funny is THAT?" said Roy. 

"I-I-I look like a... a GIRL?!" Marth said out loud. He dashed out of the room, crying. 

"ROY!" Eliwood shouted. 

"Whoops. I uh... didn't mean to say that out loud...", Roy answered. 

"It's not your fault, Roy", said Ellis. "Marthy gets upset when people say something about the way he looks. It's not a real big deal or anything" 


	4. Uh oh! Busted!

In one of the guest rooms, an extremely bored Roy was unpacking his belongings. His room was fairly lit by the natural sunlight that flooded the room's numerous windows and also by the room's warm orange color. While he carelessly tossed and forced his clothing into the bureau, he took note of all the wooden furniture in the room. The bureau was made from oak and it was so smooth and shiny to Roy. Ignoring the rest of his clothes that were wrinkled from when he packed beforehand, Roy meandered around the room and inspected the rest of the furniture. 

He walked cautiously over to the bed and gently ran his small hand over the foot of the bed. The whole bed was made from beautiful oak, just like the bureau. _Wow, so pretty..._ Roy thought to himself. As Roy wandered to the other side of the bed, Eliwood entered the room. 

"So, Roy... You've already finished unpacking? Put everything away _neatly_?" he asked sarcasticlly. He eyed the open bureau and noticed how all the clothes were just tossed in there. 

"The furniture's made of wood, Dad! Sweet!" Roy cried cheerfully. 

"Well, if I smell smoke in here or find any signs of a fire, you're going to be in _sooo_ much trouble, young man!" Eliwood replied sternly. 

"I'm _not_ gonna set any fires in here! I'm not stupid, ya know!" he growled while folding his arms. 

"I'm not saying that you're stupid, Roy. You're a _very_ intelligent boy. Intelligent, yet very careless", Eliwood replied. He's seen Roy cause a lot of trouble before due to his extremely reckless behavior. Ironicly, none of them involved fire in any way. Eliwood shook his head, wondering whatever caused Roy to develop pyromania, which was what he always asked himself. 

"I hope that Martha-- I mean _Marth_ isn't too mad about that...", Roy wondered. 

"Hey! Don't be calling him 'Martha', got it?" Eliwood glared at Roy as if he was expecting the four-year-old to make a smart-aleck remark. 

"_Sor-REE_! Not my fault if he looks, acts, _and_ sounds like a girl!" Roy mused. 

"...Finish unpacking, ok?" Eliwood said in a slightly cold tone. He then exited the room, leaving Roy snickering to himself. 

"How can a _girl_ be a _prince_?! I just hope that _she_ doesn't make me play with dollies or have dumb little tea parties. I wonder if the lil' squirt left his room yet?" he joked. 

Marth opened his door and looked out. He wiped his eyes, which were slightly red from crying. The prince noticed that someone was in the guest room that was across the hallway from his room. Marth walked towards the room, while Roy resumed to putting his clothes away in a disorganized manner. At the same time, Roy continued to crack jokes about Marth. Little did he know that the butt of his jokes also happened to be listening him. 

"Oh my God! He looks _so_ much like a girl! And why does he wear that dumb 'ol tiara for?! All _Martha_ needs is a dress and he'll _definately_ look like a girl! And he acts like such a baby! All I said was that he looked like a girl and he runs off crying like a big baby! _Martha's_ probably two or three! I might get him to do whatever I want him to do! Heh, that'd be so fun... boss him around like a little brother or something!" 

"Ahem! Roy... you shouldn't talk bad about other people, _especially_ when they're _right next to you_", said Marth. 

Roy spun around and came face-to-face with the blue-haired boy. Marth wore an expression that was a mixture of anger and saddness. Although he's eyes showed anger, tears were threatening to flood over and run down his very pale face. He tried to keep a straight face, but he wiped his eyes occasionally. Once in a while, he sniffled a little bit. 

"Ugh... hi there, Marth! What... uh... brings you here?" Roy asked sheepishly. 

"Don't pretend that you didn't say all those mean things about me", Marth coldly. "So, I'm a girl _and_ a big baby?" 

"Um... Whatever gave you _that_ idea?" Roy pushed his index fingers together and pulled then apart, as if he was playing with an imaginary Chinese finger trap. 

"I heard _everything_ you said about me", Marth sniffled again and wiped his eyes. He continued to glare at Roy, waiting for an explaination. 

"I... I... I dunno what you're talking about!" Roy looked down at the floor to avoid eye contact with Marth. Marth's eyes were starting to become even more watery. 

"Don't lie! I've heard you say those things! Why would you pick on me for, huh?! _Huh_?!" Marth took a step towards Roy, who flinched as if he got struck hard. "Listen, I don't like it when people say mean things about me. I don't look like a girl _at all_. This 'dumb ol' tiara' is my sister's. Ellis lemme borrow it whenever I want. I-I-I can't help it if I cry when people say certain things about me. It's also not a good idea to boss around people who are _older_ than you, Roy." 

"Errr... you're older than me? You're joking, right?" Roy asked sheepishly. His cheeks were flushing very badly. He never felt so embarrassed or got lectured at by another kid. 

"I'm five. When's your birthday?" asked Marth. 

"T-T-Tomorrow. Why?" Roy answered. 

"Hmm... I'm half a year older than you, then." Marth gave off a faint smile while Roy flushed even more. 

"Um... does this mean that I'm free now?" Roy whined. 

"Not really. I'm not gonna let you off the hook _that_ easily!" Marth retorted. "Maybe if you're _very_ nice to me... and maybe if you do what I want... and do whatever I tell you to do... then perhaps I'll forgive you, okie-dokie?" He winked at Roy, who looked very worried. 

"And what if I don't wanna take orders from some Tiara Boy?" Roy asked spitefully. 

"Then I'll go tell Lord Eliwood about your behavior and you'll get punished!" Marth replied in a conceited tone. He raised his nose to the air and ran his hand through his soft-blue hair. 

Roy didn't feel too comfortable about that. He knows what would happen if Marth tattled on him: Eliwood would stick him back onto the carrige and send him back home. Roy let out a loud groan and smacked his hand onto his forehead. "Great... I can't believe that I'm gonna take orders from _you_! Fine then, I'll do it." 

"There now, Roy. Just remember: do as I say and you won't get punished", Marth chirped conceitedly. He skipped out of the guest room, now in a very pleasent mood. Roy just sighed and walked out, following Marth. _Greaaaat... What did I just get myself into now?!_


	5. Marth's Revenge

Marth skipped over to his room with a ticked off Roy on his tail. Roy was mentally kicking himself for agreeing to be Marth's servant. _He better not make me do stupid things like carry him on a throne all day or something_ Roy thought to himself. 

"We're gonna play in my room, ok? _Don't_ make a mess, got it?" said Marth. 

"Yeah, whatever", Roy grumbled. 

"Hey, don't talk like that in front of me!" Marth said angrily. "You _have_ to obey me and show me lots of respect 'cause I said so!" 

Roy snorted as he tried to hold back laughter. "It's bad enough that I hafta _obey_ you, but _show you respect_?! As if!" 

"Well, let's see what your dad'll say. Now, where is he?" Marth smirked. He has his arms folded and looked around as Roy began to panic. 

"Please don't tell Dad! I beg you, Marth! Pleeease?!" Roy got on his knees and pulled on the bottom of Marth's T-shirt. 

"Oh, very well then. I won't tell Lord Eliwood. Now... _let go of my shirt! You're getting it wrinkled!_" Marth shouted. Roy did just as he was told. "Hmm... I should have you call me by some sorta title..." 

"How about 'Sir Marth, The Major Pain in the Butt'?" Roy joked. 

"No! If you call me that, then you'll be back in Pherae by tomorrow!" Marth wasn't too pleased with Roy's suggestion. He glared at Roy, waiting for any more ridiculous suggestions. 

"Ugh... how about 'Prince Marth'? You _are_ a prince, no?" 

"Everyone in Altea calls me that. I need a title that only _you_ can call me", Marth replied. He thought for a few seconds before an idea came to mind. "I know! How about... 'Master'?" 

"Not in _this_ lifetime! I ain't calling you 'Master'!" 

"Maybe Lord Eliwood'll like that idea... I _should_ go ask him", Marth said in an overly cheerful voice. He was about to walk off when Roy grabbed his skinny arm. 

"Alright, alright! I give! I'll call you 'Master', ok?!" 

"I'm glad that you've used some common sense", Marth smirked. He yanked his arm out of Roy's hands. Marth opened the door and led Roy into his room. 

Unlike the other rooms, Marth's was all blue! From floor to ceiling, everything was in a different shade of blue. Marth's bed was neatly made and it had a lot of pillows on it. They were in numerous shades of blue. He also had plenty of toys, more than any five-year-old could ever dream of. In one corner, he had all the plushies he owned in a neat fashion. The largest ones were against the wall and the smaller ones were in front. On the bookcases, he had a lot of books. One bookcase contained picture books. Another had maps of other countries. They were arranged from largest to smallest. Even his closet was in order! His clothes (which he had plenty of!) were all folded and hung up. They were arranged by color (mostly blues, but he had other colors as well). Not a wrinkle could be found on any of his clothes! 

"Ahh, my eyes! I think I'm gonna see all blue now!" Roy cried as he shielded his eyes. 

"Now what should I have you do?" Marth wondered out loud. He looked around the spotless room, trying to think up of a task for Roy. "I got it! Fetch me my slippers, Roy!" He pointed over to his closet, where his slippers were. 

"Hey! I'm your slave, but I'm no dog!" Roy complained. He stuck his tongue out at Marth, which wasn't a very smart thing to do. 

"_How dare you!_" Marth shouted. He turned towards the door and was halfway out when Roy dashed over to the closet. Roy opened the closet and quickly found the sky blue slippers. He picked them up and ran towards Marth. 

"Don't tell on me! I got your slippers!" Roy cried. "Here you go, Marth--I mean Master." He handed Marth the slippers. 

"Much better", he mused. Marth closed the door and changed his shoes. Roy was fearing for his life, worried about what task Marth is going to think up of next. 

"Roy! Go get me Pan-Pan!" He pointed Roy over to the plushies. 

"Yes, Ma-- Wait! 'Pan-Pan'?!" Roy asked in a confused tone. 

"You heard me! Go get me Pan-Pan or I'll tell on you!" 

"Uh... ok, _Master_", Roy sighed. He walked over to the large assortment of plushies and looked them over. Marth had plushies of nearly every animal, ranging from kittens to whales. Roy tried to think of which of the over 100-some odd plushies was "Pan-Pan". Roy picked up a random plushie, a silver wolf, and handed it to Marth gently. 

"Here is Pan-Pan, Master", said Roy. 

"That's not Pan-Pan. That's Lobo. Gimme Pan-Pan _now_!" Marth whined as he stomped his foot down. He pushed Roy's hands away and pointed over to the plushies. 

"Great, this is gonna take me _forever_!" Roy grumbled to himself. He dropped Lobo onto the ground and looked at the rest of the collection again. He picked out a Siamese cat plushie. _"Pan-Pan" is a cute name for this kinda cat!_ Roy thought to himself. He went back to Marth and handed him the adorable cat. 

"No! You got the wrong one again! This is Chopsticks, not Pan-Pan", Marth whined. He gave it back to Roy, who sighed and went back to the corner. 

Roy dropped Chopsticks near Lobo and looked through the group again. He picked out a chubby penguin. He looked at it to make sure that he found the right one. After confirming that he found Pan-Pan, Roy returned to Marth. 

"IT'S NOT PAN-PAN!" Marth cried. He folded his arms and looked as if he was about to cry again. "THIS IS AURORA, NOT PAN-PAN!" 

"Gimme a break, Marth! Tell me which one's Pan-Pan and I'll get it for you! Geez!" Roy glared at Marth while holding Aurora in his hands. 

"_You_ find Pan-Pan on your own!" Marth rested his hands on his hips as he glared back at Roy. 

"But you have too many plushies! I can't find it unless you tell me which one is--" Roy was immediately cut off as Marth began to bawl loudly. "Alright, alright. I'll find Pan-Pan myself then!" 

After nearly over an hour, 87 discarded plushies on the floor, and several major temper tantrums from Marth, Roy finally struck gold. He handed Marth a small chubby panda, praying that it's the right one. Roy backed away from Marth as the prince looked it over. _Oh PLEASE let that be the right one! I can't take much more of his STUPID tantrums!_ Roy thought to himself. Marth actually smiled! He hugged the plushie tightly and actually calmed down! Marth rocked himself back and forth, finally content with his plushie. 

"Yay! You got Pan-Pan for me!" Marth said cheerfully. 

"Geez! All this for a _stupid_ panda plushie?! Gimme a break!" Roy said as he smacked his forehead. 

Marth looked over at the discarded plushies on the floor, all wide-eyed. He looked up at Roy and another idea came to him. Marth placed a serious expression on his face as he thought over the idea. Roy was too busy rubbing his temples to notice that he was in for some more torture. 

"Roy! Pick up all those plushies and put 'im back _neatly_!" Marth commanded. 

"Can't you help me with them?" groaned Roy. Marth shot him an angry glare, which registered as a "No". Sighing, Roy did as he was told. He placed all the plushies back into a large group, hoping that it was over. 

"You did it wrong! That's not how they all go! DO IT OVER AGAIN!" Marth shouted. 

"Hey, I put them back there, so _get over it_! Plus I have a major headache, no thanks to your tantrums!" Roy retorted. 

Marth got up in a haste, but he nearly fell over. He was unable to stand properly on his left leg. It turned out that his leg fell asleep as he was waiting for Roy to get him Pan-Pan. After a few minutes, he finally left the room and slammed the door shut. 

"Marth? Where are you going? Marth?! MARTH!" Roy shouted. He ran after Marth, fearing for the worst. 

"I'm right here, geez!" Marth opened the door again and shook his head. _Yes! He didn't really leave!_ Roy thought to himself. 

"You... didn't go to Dad, right?" he asked sheepishly. 

"Relax, I'm not gonna go tell on you... yet", said Marth. "I guess I'll leave the plushies like that for now." 

"I think I hate plushies now, no thanks to _you_" joked Roy. 

"Now, what would you like to do?" asked Marth. 

"Excuse me? You... you... actually _care_ what _I_ want to do?" asked a very bewildered Roy. 

"I'm just being polite to you. Now if only you could be polite to _me_..." 

"Oh... well... can we go outside to play? I can't stand playing inside for a long time. I just like to run around and stuff", replied Roy. 

"Ok, then. I don't care for being outside, but I guess I'll give in", said Marth. "By the way, there's a catch", he mused. 

"A catch? What kind? I hafta be your slave for the whole summer?" he growled. 

"We'll go outside to play, but only if you carry me", Marth smirked. 

"What the hey?! I hafta _carry you_ outside?! For the _whole_ time!?" Roy exclaimed. 

"Yep! Until I tell you to put me down. But if you don't want to carry me, then we'll stay inside...", Marth said conceitedly. He folded his arms again and smirked evily at poor Roy. 

Outside in the hot sun, Marth was barking orders to where he wanted to go. Roy was sweating badly because of a rather bossy prince was sitting on his shoulders. He wiped some of the sweat away from his forehead and tried to take deep breathes. Carrying Marth brought overwhelming physical (and mental) exhaustion to Roy. 

"Can I _please_ put you down? My back and shoulders hurt...", the younger boy whined. 

"No! There's no shade here. I wanna be in the shade!" barked Marth. "Go over to that big tree over there!" 

"Fine, you annoying little..." Roy grumbled. 

"What's that?!" 

"I mean 'Yes, Master!'" Roy carried Marth over to the tree and sat him down. Now that Marth was in the shade and off his back, Roy stretched his rather sore back. He leaned against the tree and slide down onto the soft cool grass. 

Marth looked up at the tree and noticed several large red, juicy, delicious apples. He licked his lips and thought about how to acquire them for himself. They were way too high for him to reach. He couldn't climb up the tree either. He didn't know _how_ to climb trees, for he's never done that in his life. _There must be someway I can get those apples! Someway..._ Marth glanced over at Roy and an idea came to him. Uh-oh. 

"Roy, get me an apple! Now!" he barked. 

"Nahh, let's just relax here. The shade's so nice, eh?" said Roy. His voice was very calm and relaxed. 

"Hmph! I was thinking of maybe going a little more easy on you if you got me an apple... But since you don't want to get me one..." Marth's voice trailed off slightly. 

"Ok, then! I'll get one for you!" Roy said excitedly. He jumped up and began to climb the tree. He reached the closest apple and pulled it off the branch. He dropped it and it landed in Marth's small hands. 

Marth immediately sank his teeth into the apple and quickly ate it. He felt a little more relaxed and content now. "I want another one. Get me another one. Get one that's higher up there." 

Roy groaned loudly, but did as he was told. He climbed a few feet more, looking for another apple. He looked down and saw Marth pointing up. _I guess I hafta go higher then._ he thought. He climbed up to the highest branch and found some larger apples. _Yes! Jackpot!_ He grabbed them and dropped them back down to Marth. 

"Sire, it's time for your afternoon nap", said Jeigan. He was standing behind Marth, who was eating the apples. 

"Ok. Thank you", replied Marth. 

"Where is Sir Roy?" asked Jeigan. 

"He's playing up in the tree", Marth answered. He followed Jeigan inside, neglecting to get Roy. 

"Hahahaha! Marth takes afternoon naps like a baby! _That_ is too funny!" he laughed. Unfortunately, he slipped and nearly fell from the branch. He wrapped both of his arms around the branch and held on for dear life. He looked down and hoped that the branch wouldn't break. "Marth? Marth?! MARTH! _Get me down from here, NOW!_" he shouted at the top of his lungs. 

Nearly half an hour later, soft footsteps came to the base of the tree. Roy looked down, sniffling, and hoping that someone would come get him down. 

"Hey, why are you still up there?" asked a familiar soft voice. 

"Well, if it wasn't for _you_, I wouldn't _be_ up here!" snapped Roy. "Now, _get me down from here!!!_" 

Marth dashed off to find a ladder for poor Roy. He came back a few minutes later, struggling to drag the ladder over to the tree. 

"Look, I'm _soooo_ sorry for earlier. I didn't mean for this to happen. I was just so mad at you... Can you forgive me? Please? Pretty please?" Marth asked in a meek voice. 

"I guess so. Just don't make me look for any of your plushies _again_", Roy replied. 


	6. Payback

As the two children entered Marth's room, Roy stretched out his arms and sighed. Being stuck up a tree made the youngster very tired. All Roy wanted to do was fall asleep. Sleep the whole afternoon away. Now that he thought about it, afternoon naps didn't seem like such a bad idea. Why did Marth have to take them? How come Eliwood never made him take naps during the day like Marth? Roy just shrugged his shoulders weakly. He released a long yawn and stretched again. 

"...And then the cute little bunny-wunny and I went over to the river where we saw this cute kitty cat and puppy dog and panda-wanda having a picnic! Oh! It was such a nice dream! I wish I slept longer so that I could join the picnic too!" said Marth. He was obviously in a better mood now that he took a nice long nap. 

"Don't mind me if I fall asleep, ok?" yawned Roy. He laid down on the soft blue carpet and stretched out. He rested his head onto his folded arms and closed his eyes. 

Marth looked very peeved at Roy's reaction. He placed his hands on his hips and glared at Roy. "Hmph! I don't like it when people _completely_ ignore me! How'd _you_ like it if you were talking to me and _I_ just ignored you like that?! Huh?!" 

Marth's little ranting fell on Roy's deaf ears as he began to drown into the sea of sleep. So peaceful... Not a care in the world. Roy didn't hear any of Marth's bellyaching or anything for that matter. 

"Well! Talk about _rude_!" gasped Marth. "Sweet dreams", he added sarcastically 

It must have been several hours since Roy fell asleep for when he woke up, it was already evening. He looked around sleepily, wondering where the day went. Marth was still in the room with him, though. 

"Heh. Wake up, sleepy bones!" said Marth. He chuckled at Roy, who was trying to sit up. 

"What time... is it? Why's it so dark outside?" asked Roy. 

"It's nighttime, silly!" replied Marth. 

"Man, I musta slept the whole day away then", Roy yawned. _I wonder if Dad's gonna get mad at me for sleeping for such a long time?_ Roy asked himself. 

"Roy, go into the village and get me..." Marth's voice trailed off as he took out a thick scroll. He unrolled it and read off the items on it. "A bicycle, more plushies, a blue kite, a Pegasus, even more plushies, a kitty cat, a doggie, a--" 

"Wait, wait, wait! Hold it! _Where_ can I get a _Pegasus_ at?! And I think you have enough plushies to last a lifetime...", said Roy. He folded his arms and glanced at Marth. 

"Hmph! I want you to get me all of these things and I want you to do it _NOW!_" shouted Marth. 

"But listen, Marth! There's _no way_ I can go getcha a Pegasus!" reasoned Roy. 

"Fine then! You'll be sorry for that!" Marth glared at Roy, then he glanced over to all of his plushies. "Show Roy what happens to those who don't do as I say!" 

Roy just laughed at Marth until he got knocked backwards. His laughter ceased as all of Marth's plushies began to pummel him. Try as he might, Roy could not get up. The plushies were too strong and there were too many of them! 

"Help me! Marth! C'mon, help me! Please!" cried Roy. 

"Nope! I won't help you because you won't obey me!" said Marth. 

"PLEASE! I BEG YOU! HELP ME!" cried Roy. 

"Ow!" exclaimed Marth. He massaged his leg vigorously, which was stinging slightly from being kicked. "Roy! That hurts!" 

"Help... me.... Please... help me... Marth..." Roy mumbled in his sleep. 

"Roy! Wake up! You're having a bad dream!" Marth shook Roy awake. The redhead prince looked around franticly then he glanced up. Marth's face was so close to his that their noses almost touched. 

"Whoa! Oh my God! Don't _do_ that! Y-y-you scared me half to _death!_" gasped Roy. He quickly sat up and looked around the room. "It... it was just a dream..." 

"Awww, poor Roy! Well, I know what we can do to make you feel a little better", Marth said sympathetically 

"Oh? What would that be?" Roy eagerly. 

"This. Is. So. _Stupid!_" Roy pouted. Roy was sitting at a small table with a cup of tea and a small plate of cookies. He was surrounded by plushies and Marth was sitting in front of him. The older prince looked very happy about this. 

"See? Don'cha feel a _lot_ better? Having a little tea party with my plushies _always_ makes me feel better", said Marth. He took a sip of some herbal tea. 

"Marth... I don't think you really understand this. Ya see, _girls_ like to have tea parties with their plushies. _Boys_ hate that. Get what I'm saying?", said Roy. He ate some cookies, but glared at his cup of herbal tea. 

"I can do whatever I want to, Roy. I don't need to follow any of these little rules", Marth retorted conceitedly. 

"You're crazy. You're probably the only boy in the whole world who'd like to do this! Now, can you _kindly_ get these evil plushies _away from me?!_" shouted Roy. He looked deathly afraid of them. 

"Geez, Roy. What's so wrong with a boy playing with plu--" 

"THEY ATTACKED ME IN MY DREAM!!!" exclaimed Roy. He smacked some of them away from him, fearing that they'd retaliate against him again. 

"Oh... Well, don't worry about it. They wouldn't hurt you!", Marth chirped happily. "Huh? What's that, Pan-Pan?" He held the panda to his ear, as if it was whispering something to him that it didn't want Roy to overhear. "Oh! Uh-huh... Uh-huh... Ok!" 

"What'd that evil thing say?" growled Roy. 

"Pan-Pan said that her feelings are hurt. She said that you called her and her friends 'evil'--" 

"Which is true! They _are_ evil!" Roy cut off Marth. 

"Tell Pan-Pan that you're sorry", Marth said sternly. 

"What?! No way, José!" Roy folded his arms and pouted again. 

"Alright then. I see what you're saying," said Marth. His voice quivered as he tried not to cry. Marth got up while carrying Pan-Pan and walked out of the room. He began to bawl very loudly again, loud enough for anyone within a couple rooms to hear. 

"Hey, sport. What's the matter?" asked Corneilius. He picked up Marth and rocked him slightly. 

"I-I-I don't think that Roy likes Pan-Pan or her friends!", he bawled. 

"Wait! I _do_ like them, Marth!" Roy shouted as he dashed out to Marth. "It's just that... the bad dream..." 

"Roy... what did we talk about earlier?" asked Eliwood. He approached them with a stern look on his face. "Looks like _someone_ needs a time-out!" 

"But I--" said Roy, but he was too late. He ended up in his room, sitting on the bed. "Dang! I can't believe that I got in trouble... I'll get Marth for this!" 

Marth left Pan-Pan in his room and walked down the hall. He opened a door, then closed it behind him. Roy quietly left his room and snuck into Marth's. He rummaged through some things, looking for something to use against Marth. Roy found a few brightly colored bottles of finger paint. An idea came to him as he looked at the bottles. Roy saw Pan-Pan lying on the floor. He took the panda plushie and hid it in the closet. Roy left Marth's room and headed back to his own. Marth came out of the other room and was on his way back to his own room. 

"Um... Marth? Can I... ugh... talk to you for a sec? Please?" asked Roy. 

"I guess so...", replied Marth. His eyes were a little red and puffy from crying and he was sniffling again. 

"Look, I'm so sorry for that. Let's just be friends, ok?" said Roy. 

Marth embraced Roy in a tight hug, which caught Roy by surprise. Roy patted Marth's back with his left hand while unscrewing the lid off the bottle with his other hand. Marth squeezed Roy tightly, happy that they can finally set aside their differences and be friends. Little did Marth know that Roy was planning something very diabolical. 

Roy squeezed the bottle over Marth's head, covering his soft cobalt blue hair in green finger paint. The paint ran down his clothes in miniature rivers. Marth tried to run away, but Roy grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back. Roy grabbed another bottle and squeezed the contents all over Marth. After squeezing all the paint on Marth, Roy finally let him go. 

"Wuh-wuh-why'd you do that to me?!" cried Marth. He wiped the paint away from his eyes while he bawled loudly. He was covered in all the basic colors of the rainbow. 

"To get you back for making me your slave!" said Roy. 

"Waaaaah! You're so mean to me, Roy! This paint'll stain my clothes! I-I-I can't get it off!" Marth continued to cry as he desperately tried to get the paint off of him. 

"Serves ya right!" taunted Roy. 

"DADDYYYY!!!" bawled Marth. He ran out of the room, bawling even louder. Roy stayed in the room, shouting out some more insults and rude comments about him. 

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, ROY! WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO TO MARTH _THIS_ TIME?!" Eliwood shouted angrily. He marched right into the room and found the empty bottles on the floor. Roy just sat on the bed, his arms folded and a smirk upon his face. 

"It's ok, sport! The paint'll wash right off of you! Your clothes won't be stained forever!" Corneilius reassured a very upset Marth, who was still bawling. They and Ellis entered the room with Eliwood. 

"Dad! I didn't do _anything_ to him! Marth started all of this! Blame him, not me!" pouted Roy. 

"Pan-Pan", Marth said quietly. 

"What about Pan-Pan?" asked Corneilius. 

"WHERE'S PAN-PAN?! I WANT PAN-PAN!" Marth bawled even harder now. 

"I'll go get her for you, Marthy!" said Ellis. She ran to Marth's room and looked in there. 

"I'm SO sorry for Roy's behavior! He _never_ does this. _Never!_ I-I-I can't explain why he suddenly decided to bully poor Marth", said Eliwood. He flushed badly as he was trying to apologize for Roy's misbehavior. 

"Marthy, I can't find Pan-Pan anywhere!" cried Ellis. She came back into the room. 

"Pan-Pan's gone?!" Marth ran to his room to search for the plushie himself. Roy tried to hold back laughter, knowing that he finally got revenge on Marth. 

"What did you do with Pan-Pan?" Eliwood asked angrily. 

"Nothing! I didn't do nothing to that doll of his! Honest!" said Roy. 

Marth came back, holding Pan-Pan by her arm. Usual he held her close to his chest, but since he's covered in paint, he'd get paint on her as well. "WHY'D YOU HIDE HER IN THE CLOSET, ROY?!" shouted Marth. 

"I felt like it", he replied. Roy stuck his tongue out at Marth, who began to cry again. 

"ROY! KNOCK THAT OFF!" shouted Eliwood. 

"Don't cry, sport. You'll be alright. It's ok", said Corneilius, who held Marth. 

The rest of the day was pretty tense for both families. Eliwood and Corneilius just talked about various topics, but didn't discuss much about Marth and Roy. Eliwood was still pretty upset at Roy for his poor behavior. Roy decided to spend the rest of the day in his room, away from Marth. He chuckled as he recalled his diabolical scheme and poor Marth's fate. Marth, on the other hand, didn't find the whole ordeal too funny. He took at least three baths, trying to wash all the paint off of him. His hair still had bits of green paint in it, though. Marth acted very coldly towards Roy for the rest of the day, refusing to forgive him. Ellis, unfortunately, found herself in the middle. Try as she might, she couldn't get both boys to apologize to each other. 

The end of the day had finally came. Marth climbed into his bed, clad in his blue pajamas. As he snuggled into the layers of blankets, he hugged Pan-Pan tightly. 

"Night-night, Pan-Pan! Sweet dreams!" he chirped. Marth gave his plushie a kiss on its head before turning off the light. He closed his eyes, finally relieved that this chaotic day has finally finished. 


	7. Happy Birthday, Roy!

Another summer morning has arrived to the kingdom of Altea. Sunlight meandered through the windows of Marth's room, brightening the walls to a cheerful blue. The prince awoken as he felt the light fall upon his face. He rolled over, shielding his eyes with his arm to block out the light. After a few minutes of his futile attempts to prevent the light from hitting his eyes, Marth finally got up. Marth blinked several times to adjust to the sunlight, then he glanced over at the wall. There was a light blue-colored calendar hanging on the wall. Marth slowly got out of bed and walked over to the colander 

"Aww, man... I forgot to say it...", Marth whined to himself. 

He changed the month on the calendar to June, now that May had finally ended. Marth looked at the date and an enormous grin came to his face. He ran over to the desk and rummaged through a box of crayons. After finding a bright red crayon, he ran back to the calendar and drew a large smiley face on June 1st. 

"How could I have forgotten?! What a day this'll be!" Marth said happily. He quickly made up his bed neatly and picked up his most prized possession. "Good morning, Pan-Pan! Guess what day it is?" he said to his plushie. 

Marth ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth, then came back to his room. It took him at least 10 minutes before he found an outfit that he wanted to wear. Marth put on a long sleeved light blue shirt, navy blue pants, a cerulean vest, and a dark blue cape. He put on a pair of blue socks and a pair of boots that were also blue. Marth headed over to a mirror and brushed his hair neatly. After checking himself over to make sure that he looked nice, Marth headed down to the kitchen. 

"Wow! Good morning, Marth!" said Eliwood. He lowered his newspaper to take a gander at Marth's outfit. 

"Morning, sport! Planning something today?" asked Corneilius. He took a sip of his coffee. 

"Baby bro! You look _so_ cute!" chirped Ellis. She pulled out a chair for Marth at the table. 

"Oh, um... Eliwood? What does Roy like to eat for breakfast?" Marth asked timidly. 

"He'd eat anything, Marth. Roy's not really picky about breakfast. Now try to get him to eat his veggies..." Eliwood joked. 

Marth took out a large bowl and poured some cereal and milk in there. He also got a plate of four pancakes and four pieces of French toast. He poured some maple syrup on top of them and then he put some butter on top. Marth got another plate and put four pieces of sausage, bacon, and toast. Not sure of which kind of jam Roy would like, Marth put a different kind on each piece of toast: grape, orange, blueberry (Marth's absolute favorite), and strawberry. Getting _another_ plate, Marth got a hefty serving of harsh browns and scrambled eggs. Satisfied, Marth put all the food onto a tray. A feeling that something was amiss, Marth got a glass of plain milk, chocolate milk, and orange juice. Now he can take all of this to Roy. The only problem was _how_ would he get all of this to Roy without spilling anything? 

Slowly, Marth walked towards Roy's room. He eventually got to Roy's room without anything spilling. The first obstacle was overcome, now here's the second one: How is Marth going to open the door and hold the tray at the same time? The tray was pretty heavy, too heavy to hold with a single hand. Marth held the tray with one hand (which was shaking from the weight), and reached for the doorknob with the other hand. He finally got it opened! Now with both hands on the tray, Marth walked slowly inside. 

Roy was still fast asleep, unaware of Marth or his good deed. Marth walked to the side of the bed and placed the tray on the nightstand. Roy must have caught the aroma, for he groaned in his sleep and turned over. Marth snickered slightly and he walked closer to the bed. He poked Roy slightly on his side to wake him up. The younger prince stirred a little in his sleep before turning over again. 

"Wake up, Roy!" Marth chirped happily. 

"Ugh... Wha... Who-who-who's there...?" Roy mumbled sleepily. 

"Guess what day it is?" said Marth. 

"I... want that... pretty pink dress... It's too big for you..., Marth... I... look better in... pink than... you...", mumbled Roy. 

"Ugh... yeah, sure... I guess", stammered a very flustered, very surprised Marth. He poked Roy a couple more times before the sleeping prince finally woke up. 

"Huh? Wha? Oh! Good morning, Marth!" said Roy. 

"Guess what day it is! Guess what day it is!" Marth shouted happily. He jumped into Roy's bed and began to bounce on it. 

"Uh... I dunno. What is it?" asked Roy. 

"Silly Roy! It's your _birthday!_" replied Marth. He was grinning from ear to ear as Roy began to flush at the fact that he nearly forgot his own birthday. 

"Hey, now! Look at all this food! Is all of that for... for _me?!_" Roy asked as he glanced at the nightstand. 

"Yep! I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I asked your dad. Thought I'd bring it to you!" said Marth. He kept bouncing on the bed, unable to contain his cheery mood. 

"Wow! Thanks a bunch, Marth! I'm gonna dig in right now!" exclaimed Roy. He picked up a spoon and begin to scarf down the cereal. 

"So, how do you feel now that you're five?" asked Marth. 

"Hungry", Roy replied with some pancakes in his mouth. He already finished the cereal. 

"I... ugh... I can see _that_, silly-billy", chuckled Marth. "So, what would you like to do today?" 

"I'd hate to change the subject, but I'm... I'm... I'm _so_ sorry for yesterday! I didn't mean to get you back. I've been a _real_ brat since I've came here. Please forgive me", said Roy. He looked down at his plate, feeling very ashamed. 

"Well, you're not the only one who's been a brat... I'm usually not that mean, so I kinda surprised myself when I made you be my servant", said Marth. He stopped bouncing on the bed and now looked as ashamed as Roy. 

"Truce?" asked Roy. He extended his hand out to Marth, who shook it eagerly. They both smiled, happy that they can _finally_ be civil to each other. 

After Marth left the room, Roy finished up his breakfast. Marth headed to the kitchen for his breakfast, while feeling very happy that he and Roy are finally friends. Roy came into the kitchen a few minutes later, fully dressed. He had on a bright red shirt, white pants, and a purple cape. He also had on boots that were the same color like Marth's. As Roy came over to the table, everyone looked up at him in a cheery mood. 

"Morning, guys", said Roy. 

"Good morning, Roy!" said Corneilius. 

"Hey, Roy! Today's your birthday?! How cool!" said Ellis. 

"Morning, Birthday Boy! You're already getting to be a big boy, huh?" said Eliwood. He seemed even more cheerful than everyone else. 

"I've just thought of something that I wanna do today!" Roy said to Marth. He took a piece of toast and put a glob of strawberry jam on it. 

"Oh? What's that?" Marth replied happily. 

"I wanna go check out the town! Me and Dad just got here and I think that it'd be so cool!", said Roy. He ended up getting some chewed up pieces of toast in Marth's face, for he had the whole thing in his mouth while talking. 

"Sounds like a plan, then! We can do that later today!" said Marth as he wiped his face. 

After breakfast, the boys were in Marth's room. Marth took out a lot of paper and a box of crayons for them to draw with. He and Roy were talking about each other's drawings and getting to know each other a little more. 

"Wow... you're such a good drawer! These are so cool!" said Roy. He pointed at Marth's drawings of pandas. 

"Th-th-thank you! Err... what's your favorite animal?" asked Marth. 

"My favorite animal?" 

"Yeah, I'm just wondering... For me, I like kitties, puppies, bunnies, pandas, and penguins! Pandas are my number one favorite!" said Marth. "Who _wouldn't_ like pandas?! They're so cute, cuddly, fluffy, and just plain _CUTE!_ I like any cute animals, not scary ones." 

"Heh, that's cool. My favorites are cats, dogs, lions, tigers, alligators, snakes, and _dragons!_ Dragons are my _absolute_ favorite! I just _looooove_ dragons! They're big and scaly and scary-looking and they can fly and they can burn down an _entire village_ with their flames! I love 'im a lot because they can breath _fire_ and I love fire _a lot!_" Roy said very excitedly. He was beaming at the thought of dragons. Marth, on the other hand, looked terrified about that. 

"Y-y-you like scary animals instead of c-c-cute ones?" Marth asked timidly. 

"I don't think that they're scary; I think they're _cool_", he replied. Roy continued to draw what appeared to be a long red dragon that was breathing fire. 

"Well... as long as you're happy... then that's all that matters, eh?" said Marth. He began to draw a pink bunny alongside a large panda. 

Later that afternoon, both fathers took Ellis, Roy, and Marth down to the village. It was a fairly large, bustling town. There were many beautiful homes and numerous shops that sold many things. As they passed by some shops, Marth caught sight of a toy store across the street. His baby blue eyes lit up with sheer joy. _Wow! I wanna get some more toys!_ Marth thought to himself. The temptation to run in there and buy many toys for himself and _only_ for himself was too strong to resist. He ran like mad to the store, leaving everyone else behind. 

"Marth...? Marth! Where're you going?!" cried Corneilius. He ran after Marth, wondering why the prince of Altea suddenly decided to run off like that. 

Marth reached the toy store, very flushed and breathless. He's an excellent runner, but he tires very easily due to the fact that he rarely gets any exercise. He opened the door and headed inside with his father on his tail. 

"There you are! What did you see that made you run all the way over here?" asked Corneilius. He chuckled as he patted Marth's shoulder. Marth was still trying to catch his breath from the run. All he did was look up and smile. 

"Good afternoon, your Highness! And good afternoon to _you_, Prince Marth!" said the toy store owner. The owner was a pretty young woman who had long green hair. She bowed to Marth, which made him feel a little awkward. Whenever he goes into the village, Marth could never get used to people addressing him as "Your Highness", "Sire", or "Prince Marth". He always flushed when people do that. 

"I guess Marth wants to pick up a gift for his new friend. My friend, Lord Eliwood, came over yesterday and he brought his son. Today's his son's birthday", said Corneilius. He smiled at Marth. 

"Ah! I see. Do you want to take a look around?" asked the owner to Marth. 

"I-I-I... um... Well... err... Yes...", Marth stammered. 

"I'll get everyone else then. Stay in here, ok sport?" said Corneilius. He walked outside, leaving Marth behind. 

"What is your friend's name, your Highness?" asked the owner. 

"Ugh... uh.... It's R-R-Roy..." stammered Marth again. His face flushed even more. 

"Hmm, what does he like to do?" asked the owner. She looked down at a very flushed Marth. 

"He likes to play outside a lot. That's what he told me...", Marth said quietly. 

"Well, I believe that we have some outdoor toys for him. They're right over there", said the owner. She pointed over to where the outdoor toys were. Marth headed over there, looking through them. 

Ellis, Roy, Eliwood, and Corneilius came into the store. Roy's eyes lit up, scanning all the toys that were there. Ellis walked over to where Marth was while Eliwood and Cornielius talked. 

"Hey, Marthy. Did you find anything yet?" asked Ellis. 

"Hmm... I wanna get him something _nice_", said Marth. 

"Wow... Look at all these toys... It's like heaven...", sighed Roy. His eyes looked dreamy and pretty distant. 

"I'll look around here and you can look around the rest of the shop", said Ellis. 

"Ok!" said Marth. He had one thing on his mind and _only_ one thing: plushies. He ran over to where all the plushies were and he too had the same dreamy, distant expression on his face. 

There were numerous plushies, all in different sizes, colors, and animals. Marth realized that they had some new plushies in stock, ones that he didn't have yet. He looked at all the ones he didn't have, thinking about what he should name them. After looking at all of them, Marth took all of the new plushies over to his dad. He had at least 52 plushies: 4 cats, 5 frogs, 3 dogs, 17 bunnies, 9 bears, 6 pandas, 2 lions, 3 tigers, and a dragon. Marth felt like he just came across a priceless treasure. 

"Dad... I want all of these", said Marth. 

"Whoa there, sport! Looks like Pan-Pan wanted some more friends, eh?" said Corneilius. 

"Yep! They're so cute too! I want them!" Marth said happily. For 10,000 gold, all of those plushies now belonged to a very delighted Marth. He jumped up and down, definitely happy. 

Ellis bought Roy a red kite after seeing him examine it. Roy seemed like he would enjoy having a kite, for he loved to run around. Eliwood bought Roy a baseball set, knowing that he would love to play baseball. Corneilius bought Roy a bicycle, for Roy would enjoy zooming around on it. As they all left the store, everyone seemed excited about giving Roy his gifts. Marth, though, felt extremely guilty. He just wanted stuff for himself, but neglected to get something for Roy. He sighed, feeling angry with himself. _Man... why'd I hafta be so greedy? It's Roy's special day. He deserves to get things today, not me!_ Marth thought to himself. 

"Hey, guys. I think there's a fire nearby." Roy said very calmly. The group looked at Roy, then looked around. 

"Where's it, Roy? Where'd you see it at?" asked Eliwood. 

"I didn't see it. I _smelled it_", Roy replied, still very calm. He lifted his head a little bit and sniffed the air. Roy looked around and then pointed towards his left. "It's over there." 

The group ran over to where Roy pointed at and found out that he was indeed correct. A bakery was in flames as a crew of firemen were dumping gallons of water on the flames. Some anxious villagers watched the ordeal, wondering how it started. Roy was watching as well, but he reacted quite differently than the villagers. For one thing, he was extremely calm and relaxed unlike everyone else. The dreamy, distant look returned to his face as he watched. It seemed like he fell into a trance of some sort. Finally, the fire was put out after about fifteen minutes. Everyone felt relaxed now that the ordeal was over. Roy, on the other hand, suddenly looked around, feeling a little confused as if he just woke up from falling asleep. 

"Excuse me, are you the owner?" asked Corneilius. 

"Yes I am, your Highness", replied a man. 

"I'll be gladly to pay for the damages. It's the least I can do for you", said the King of Altea. 

"You will? That's mighty generous of you, Sire! Thank you so much. I _must_ pay you back for your generosity!", said the man. 

"Oh, it's no problem at all! You don't have to pay me back." 

"I insist! You can have _anything_ in my bakery for _free_", said the man. 

"Hmm... I guess I'll take a... Eliwood, what kind of cake does Roy like?", said Corneilius. 

"He's very fond of chocolate", replied Eliwood. He walked over to Roy and nudged him a bit. 

"Ok then. I'll get the largest chocolate cake you have in stock. Roy deserves it for it's his birthday and he noticed the fire before any of us did", said Corneilius. 

"Will do, Sire!" said the man. 

"...Happy Birthday, dear Roy! Happy Birthday to you!" sang Marth, Ellis, Corneilius, and Eliwood. 

"Blow out the candles, Roy!" said Marth. 

Roy took a deep breath and blew out the five candles. He looked a little disappointed because he had to put out the candles. The thought of having cake and ice cream quickly cheered him up. 

"Here you go, Roy! This is from me", said Eliwood. He handed Roy a large package that was wrapped in bright red paper. As Roy tore off the paper, his blue eyes lit up with joy. 

"WOW! LOOK AT THIS! Hey, Marth! Maybe we could play baseball sometime!" shouted Roy. 

"Here's one from me", said Ellis. She handed Roy a lighter package that was wrapped in orange paper. Roy quickly ripped the paper off and he began to bounce up and down in his seat. 

"COOL! A KITE! I WANNA RUN AROUND AND PLAY WITH IT RIGHT NOW!" he shouted happily. 

Corneilius walked out of the room and brought in his gift to Roy. Since it was too large to wrap up, he had a large red bow on the handlebar. "Happy Birthday, Roy!" said Corneilius. 

"OH MY GOD! A BIKE! THANK YOU _SO_ MUCH!" cried Roy. He was definitely happy with his gifts. 

"Ooh, wait! Marthy has a gift for you too!" said Ellis. 

The color drained from Marth's face as he remembered that he _didn't_ get Roy anything. "I-I-I'll go get it. It's in my r-r-room..." he stammered. Marth disappeared into his room to get the gift. He came back a few minutes later with something behind his back. 

"Look, Roy! Marth has something for you!" said Eliwood. 

"I-I-I... um... got this for y-y-you... I hope you like it...", stammered Marth. He looked down at the floor, his face turning bright pink. He held the item in front of him and Roy's eyes lit up even more. 

"Awwwww, THAT'S SO COOL!" shouted Roy. He jumped up onto his feet and begin to jump up and down. "WOW! A DRAGON PLUSHIE! A _RED_ DRAGON! THANK YOU, MARTH!" Roy embraced Marth in a tight bear hug, so surprised about his gift. 

"Well... you told me you liked dragons a lot, so I... um... got this _just_ for you!" said Marth. 

"Thanks, Marth! Thanks, everyone! This is the best birthday I've ever had!" cried Roy. 


	8. An Interesting Idea

"Wow, look at _that_ cloud! It looks like a big ol' polar bear!" said Roy. He pointed upwards at a large mass of white fluffy clouds. 

"You're right! It's a cute polar bear too!" said Marth. 

Both princes were starting to get along pretty well after a week. During that time, they've learned where the other person's bounderies were. There were a few times when they're stepped over the other one's bounderies by accident. They've spent afternoons outside, looking up at the clouds while laying on their backs on the cool grass. 

"Are you tired, Marth?" asked Roy. 

"I'm just a touch sleepy, that's all..." yawned Marth. It was already an hour past his afternoon nap, which explained why the older prince was slightly tired. 

"We can go inside, if you want. You could take your nap", Roy suggested. He was already used to Marth taking naps during the afternoon, so he just goes back outside to play. 

"No, no! I'm fine. Say... can you tell me some stories about your dad's army?" asked Marth. 

"Sure! Dad told me loads of funny stories about when he had to find Grandpa! Dad met _lots_ of funny people who joined his army!" said Roy. Lord Eliwood happened to be a general. 

"Really? Tell me about them!" said Marth. 

"Ok, there was this one guy named Sain and he's a big idiot. Sain _always_ goes up to a pretty lady and talks to her and then the lady beats him up _badly!_" laughed Roy. 

"What does Sain tell the lady?" Marth asked curiously. 

"Dumb stuff like... 'Oh, beautiful lady! You are so pretty and sweet and lovely and I wanna marry you!' and other dumb stuff like that", said Roy. He was on his knees, trying to imitate Sain. 

"Hahaha! And he tells _every_ lady that?!" exclaimed Marth. 

"Yep! Now, here's a couple funny things that happened to Sain. One time, Dad got this new guy to join and his name was Erk and he's a py-roh-may-nee-ac, like me and--" 

"What's that?" asked Marth. 

"Dad told me that's someone who likes to start fires _a lot_", replied Roy. 

"Oh, I see! Now, go on." 

"Ok, so anyways, Erk joins Dad's army and he had kinda long hair. Now, Sain went up to him and he goes 'Hello there! I'm Sain. Let me take you out for dinner, pretty lady' and do you know what Erk said?" continued Roy. 

"No, what'd Erk say?" asked Marth. 

"Erk said 'I'm _not_ a girl! I'm a guy!' and he casted a fire spell on Sain! Hahaha! Sain was burnt to a crisp! What a big idiot!" laughed Roy. 

Marth was laughing very hard as he tried to picture the incident. "How funny!" 

"Now, another time, Dad got another new guy to join the army. This guy was a monk named Lucius and he had even _longer_ hair than Erk! Everyone thought that Lucius was a girl, including Dad. Now, Sain went up to Lucius and said the same thing he said to Erk. Know what happened?" Roy said with a smirk on his face. 

"Uh... Lucius casted fire spells on Sain?" asked Marth. 

"Nope! _Erk_ can do that! Lucius knows light magic! But anyways, he got really mad at Sain. He said 'I _don't_ look like a girl _at all!_' and he _punched_ Sain really hard!" said Roy. "The funny thing, though, was that after he punched Sain, he began to say _really_ bad words because he broke a nail!" Roy then began to laugh really hard. 

"But... but... monks aren't suppose to say bad words, Roy", said Marth. 

"I know! That's why that was funny!" laughed Roy. 

"Ha! I bet Lucius got in a lotta trouble for that!" Marth began to laugh so hard that his face turned bright pink. 

"Dad and the army camped out in lots of places. Man, I wish that I coulda done that! It would have been fun!" Roy said as he began to daydream about the idea. 

"Have you ever been camping before?" asked Marth. 

"Yep! It's very fun! You get to roast marshmallows over an open fire, sleep outside under the stars, go fishing, go hiking... loads of fun!" said Roy. He was grinning from ear to ear. 

"Wow... I've never been camping before. I'd like to do that", Marth uttered quietly. 

"_WHAT?! YOU'VE NEVER BEEN CAMPING BEFORE?! ARE YOU CRAZY OR SOMETHING?!_" exclaimed Roy with a completely shocked expression on his face. 

"Yeah. I've never did that before. Sounds like fun, though. I wish I could do that right now...", Marth grumbled. 

"Say... Maybe you could ask your dad if you could do that. Perhaps if our dads would let us, we could go camping all by ourselves! How cool is _that?_" 

"Not a bad idea! Why didn't _I_ think of that?! Don't worry, Roy! We'll go camping soon! Dad'll let me, I just _know_ it!" said Marth excitedly. 

"How do you know if he'll say yes or not?" Roy asked skeptically. 

"Don't worry; Dad'll let me do _whatever_ I want!" Marth answered conciededly. He flipped his hair from his eyes at the same time. 

Back in the castle, Corneilius and Eliwood were having a lively conversation. The King of Altea was rolling with laughter as the Pheraen general was telling a story. Marth and Roy entered the den where their fathers were at, hoping that Marth was right. 

"...And then he goes 'Back! Back, you demon woman! Quit stalking me like that! Why does the world hate me so?!'. Erk then ran off and Serra chased after him, while yelling at the top of her lungs 'Come back, my fwuffy one!'" Eliwood started laughing hysterically as he recalled the incident. 

"Serra is another idiot that Dad met", Roy whispered to Marth. 

"Dad... Can me and Roy go camping all by ourselves?" asked Marth. He tried to look as cute as he could, hoping that it'd convince his dad to agree with him. 

"Camping? Just the two of you? I'm not sure about that... I mean it's just that you guys are too young to go all by yourselves. I hope that you understood that, ok?" said Corneilius. 

"Oh, um... I guess that's fine then", Roy said quietly. He tugged Marth's arm a bit to get the older prince to go with him. 

"Bu... But... _THAT'S NOT FAIR AT ALL!!!_" cried Marth. Being told "no" was one of his many pet peeves. Marth began to protest against that by throwing a major tantrum. 

"Yikes! Marth!" Roy shouted over Marth's crying. Roy quickly covered his ears while Eliwood did the same thing. 

"L-L-Listen, sport! I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but I just don't feel like that's a good idea to have you and Roy go camping without a grown-up. You guys might get hurt or something. I don't want either of you to get hurt. Please, Marth... Stop crying..." said Corneilius. He picked up Marth and rocked him back and forth. Unfortunately, that didn't calm Marth down at all. 

"NO! I WANNA GO CAMPING!!!" screamed Marth. He struggled to free himself out of his father's arms, but his father wouldn't put him down. 

"Marth, I think you should go take your nap right now. Perhaps you'll feel better after getting some sleep", said Corneilius. 

"No, NO, _NO!!!_" screamed Marth. He cried harder, hoping that it'd work. 

"Alright... Alright, already... You two can go camping", sighed Corneilius. He put Marth down and rubbed his head since he got a migrane now. 

"Th-Th-Thank you, Dad", sniffled Marth. He headed towards his room with Roy on his tail. 

"I'm so sorry about Marth, Eliwood. He tends to do that when he doesn't get his way. Ahh... Ahh..." Corneilius was still rubbing his head, trying to sooth the migrane away. 

Marth flopped onto his bed and buried his face into one of the pillows, still crying. Roy came in and patted Marth on the back. Roy looked quite surprised about Marth's little protest. 

"Dang, Marth! Whenever _I_ throw a tantrum to get something, I _always_ get in trouble for it! How come it works for _you_ and never for _me?!_" asked Roy. 

"I-I-I could teach you how. Maybe later, ok?" sobbed Marth. 

"You ok? Why are you still crying?" Roy asked worriedly. 

"I'm just letting it run its course. I'll be fine", he replied. 

"When shall we head off to camp, buddy?" asked Roy. 

"Probably in an hour", replied Marth. He showed off a large smile, although his face was hidden in the pillow. _This'll be so fun!_ Marth thought to himself. 


	9. A–Camping We Will Go

The Pherean general and Altean king were both feeling excited and worried about their boys camping. Corneilius was feeling more worry than excitement because of the fact that Marth never ventured outside the castle grounds without Jeigan or any other adult. Also, it was the first time the Altean prince has ever been camping.

"What kinda clothes do I take?" asked Marth.

"Let's see... your pajamas, unless you don't mind sleeping in your day clothes, and something that you don't mind getting wet," Roy answered back. He shoved some clothing into a knapsack and came into Marth's room.

"Bu... But... But what about for tomorrow? I can't wear the same clothes twice in a row! I just _can't!_" cried Marth.

"I guess you _could_ pack some extra clothes... Just don't bring your whole closet", said Roy while he narrowed his eyes at Marth.

Ellis helped out by packing some food and supplies for the boys. She packed a first aid kit, just in case they needed it. Also, she packed enough sandwiches, snacks, and bottles of soda pop to last the boys a few days. Although she was happy that her little brother finally has a friend, Ellis felt a bit sad and even a little jealous because she doesn't get to play with him as often anymore.

Marth and Roy came to the door, ready to head out for their camping trip. They both had a knapsack full of their clothing and a fishing pole for each person. They also had their sleeping bags and the tent, which were rolled up very tightly. Roy was talking excitedly about how much fun it'd be while Marth was asking about every little thing he could come up with.

"Have fun, guys!" said Eliwood. He hugged Roy tightly and gave him a pat on the back.

Corneilius took Marth aside to give him some last-minute reassurance, just like any other parent would when their child is going out into the outside world on their own for the first time. "Listen, Marth. I know that you've never done this before, but... _please_ be careful. If you need anything, let Roy know. He'll help you out. And if you feel scared, you can come back home. Just be sure to tell Roy that you'll be coming back here so that he doesn't think that you got lost or anything, ok? Do you know your way back to the castle? Maybe I should go get a map for you... Do you know all the directions? North, south, east, west? Oh! And remember to brush your teeth and--"

"Whoa, there! Relax! Marth's in good hands! He'll be _fine_, buddy. Trust me, Roy knows what he's doing so he can take care of Marth. They're just camping for the day, not moving out", said Eliwood. He smiled at Corneilius, attempting to make the king's anxiety cease. Unfortunately, that failed.

"But... But... You don't understand! Marth's never been on his own before! What if he and Roy get seriously injured?! And what if--"

"I'll be ok, Daddy! Trust me! I'll be extra, _extra_ careful so you don't have to worry at all!" chirped Marth. He wrapped his small skinny arms around his father's waist and gave him a tight hug. Corneilius patted Marth's head, stroking his hair a bit.

"Have fun, guys", he said calmly as Marth and Roy headed out the door.

Once the boys came outside, the fierce summer sun began to beat down on their faces. Even Marth didn't complain _once_ about the heat because he was just too excited. He and Roy began to walk down the dirt road, looking for a spot to set up camp. While walking, Roy was singing at the top of his lungs a tune that he picked up from a certain cavalier, whom he met once back in Pherae.

"...Ninety-six bottles of beer on the wall! Ninety-six bottles of beer! You take one down, pass it around, ninety-five bottles of beer on the wall! Ninety-five bottles of beer on the wall...!"

"Roy! You can't sing that song! We're not old enough to drink beer yet! Also, you're a bad singer. Now, _please stop singing!!!_" shouted Marth. He had the misfortune of walking alongside the squawking pyromaniac, so he had his ears covered for the last few minutes.

"That's the only song I know! I learned it from Sain when he and Kent had to watch me once", said Roy.

"Uh-oh. That doesn't sound too good", joked Marth. "Whatcha do to them? Did they like having to watch you?"

"Kent tried to get Sain to stop being an idiot and help, but that didn't work. They learned that giving a half-dragon kid a gallon of coffee ice cream was a _baaaad_ idea! Oh, and Sain kept singing that song the whole time. Kent told him that he'd end up 'corrupting' me, whatever that means."

"Man, I wish I coulda seen the looks on their faces when they gave you coffee-- Wait, you're half-_dragon_?!" exclaimed Marth. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked over at Roy. _He looks like any other kid... How can he be half-dragon? He must be making that up or something!_ Marth thought to himself.

"Yep! It's kinda neat being half-dragon! I eat a _lot_ more than other kids because dragons get hungrier more than people, so I like to snack on lots of sweets like chocolate! And I get hyper a lot more than other kids because of that! That's just some of the cool things!" said Roy.

"Wow, you're so lucky! It must be real good to be half-dragon", Marth grumbled.

"There are a few bad things, too. I get _very_ cold a lot because dragons are cold-blooded. They need to be warm and they get really slow and tired when it's cold. During the winter, I feel so cold that I need to wear three, sometimes four layers of clothing! Plus, my whole body hurts, as if I'm an old geezer. Cold-blooded animals sleep throughout winter, so I end up sleeping a _lot_."

"How can you be half-dragon, unless..." Marth's voice trailed off as a thought came to his mind. "Is... Is... Is Lord Eliwood a half-dragon too?!"

"Nope, he's a person like you! My mom can turn into a dragon, so that's why I'm half-dragon!" Roy answered back.

"Oh. Is it scary to have a full dragon for a parent?" Marth asked timidly.

"My mom doesn't stay as a dragon _forever_! Actually..., I've never see her turn into one before. I guess she only does to protect us..." He looked ahead and spotted a lake nearby. "I think we can camp over there, Marth", said Roy.

"Oh, good! We might have lots of shade because of all those trees!" Marth chirped happily.

Roy let out a sigh of relief, thankful to have dropped the subject of his rather unusual mixed ethnicity. He and Marth resumed walking, now in silence. Marth was starting to skip happily before breaking into song.

"A hundred bottles of beer on the wall! A hundred bottles of beer! You take one down, pass it around--"

"No, no. You start at ninety-nine bottles, not a hundred", Roy chuckled.

"Oh, I see. Anyways, ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall! Ninety-nine bottles of beer! You take one down, pass it around..."

Roy started chuckling loudly as they headed over to the lake, ready to begin the camping trip.


	10. A Little Rest and Relaxation

Marth and Roy looked down the hill and saw their campsite. There was a large lake nearby surrounded by plenty of trees. The two boys slid down the hill, laughing as they came down onto level ground. They looked around to find a nice spot to set up their tent. Finally, they found a spot that was fairly shaded. 

"We should put the tent up here", said Roy. 

"Ok! Um... how do you do it?" asked Marth. He looked at the rolled up tent very curiously. All of this to shelter them for the night? 

"I've helped my dad set up the tent plenty of times! It's easy! Just read me the instructions and I'll have the tent up in no time at all!" said Roy. 

"Instructions? Read the instructions to you? Do I... Do I have to?" whined Marth. 

"Well... Err... Just think of it as ordering me around. You like ordering people around, right?" he joked. 

"Oh! If you put it _that_ way... Ok! I'll do the best I can!" chirped Marth. He began to dig through the knapsack for the parchment while Roy chuckled. 

"I think it might be inside the tent. Thanks for doing this, though. I'm... ugh... I'm not a good reader..." Roy mumbled quietly. His face turned slightly pink as he looked at the ground. 

"Are-are you _sure_ that it's inside the tent?" asked Marth. 

"Yeah... Why, what's wrong?" Roy asked worriedly. 

"It's not here!" Marth said calmly. 

* * *

A slight breeze blew overhead. It blew a rolled up parchment across the dirt while unraveling it. The parchment had some diagrams along with a few words on it...

* * *

"I guess it didn't come with the instructions, eh?" Roy said sheepishly.

"Don't worry! We can put it together without 'im!" Marth said determinedly. 

Marth and Roy struggled to get the stakes into the tent, then to stand them up. The tent kept falling over numerous times before finally standing upright. Before either of them could tie down the stakes, the light wind started to blow away the tent! The boys had to chase it down several times before catching it. They finally dragged it back to its original spot before encountering another problem. There happened to be a large ant colony in the middle of the spot. Marth wasn't too fond of insects and those red fire ants weren't exactly on his list of favorite animals. He quickly moved their belongings over to another shaded area (_far_ away from the ant colony) while Roy had to drag the tent over to Marth all by himself. Finally, they were able to tie down the stakes and complete their tent. All of this took a little over an hour and a half. 

"There! Now we can relax!" sighed Roy. 

"Owie, owie, owie... Those ants bit me up real good on my arms and legs! I should of brought something to stop the itching..." whined Marth. He tried to scratch his right arm and both his legs at the same time, but failed. Roy couldn't help but snicker at Marth. 

"Only a couple got you. One on you arm and a few more on your legs. They're not poisonous, so you'll live", said Roy. "At least I _think_ they're not poisonous..." he muttered quietly. 

"I don't think I'll live with the itching! It's driving me _mad_!" Marth complained while scratching.

* * *

Marth and Roy were lying on their backs under the tree with their lunch. Roy was eating a couple sandwiches at a time while Marth was sipping his soda pop. They were both gazing up at the sky, content with not a care in the world. As Marth was taking another sip, he let out a small hiccup. Roy started to snicker as Marth kept hiccuping. Realizing that he's not going to be able to stop them, Marth joined Roy in laughing. 

"This is fun, isn't it?" said Roy while grinning. He was still snickering a bit as Marth was trying not to hiccup too loudly. 

"Yep! I kinda-- hic! --like it! So nice, too... Hic! It's not too-- hic! --hot, there's a-- hic! --nice breeze, and we have plenty of-- hic! --food! Hic! Hic! Hic!" 

"Heheh... Too much soda?" taunted Roy. 

"I-- hic! --only had one. How do-- hic! --you stop-- hic! --these-- hic! --hiccups?!" whined Marth. 

"I dunno... I just let 'im run their course. Usually it's like a hour or so", said Roy. 

"An-- hic! Hic!-- HOUR?!" exclaimed Marth. 

"Yeah, well until they go away, let's talk about other stuff", said Roy. He folded his arms behind his head and sighed contently. "Oh, I dun wanna scare ya or anything, but there's a bumble bee or something in your hair. It's either a wasp, bee, or something with a stinger..." he said rather too calmly. 

Marth shrieked loudly and jumped up while quickly rubbing his hands through his hair. He was bawling and screaming as he tried to get the so-called bee out of his hair. "Is it out yet?! Is it out yet?!" he kept screaming. 

"It's gone now! Calm down, Marth. Calm down, relax", said Roy. 

"Th-th-thank you for telling me about the bee", panted Marth. 

"No problem! Oh! Your hiccups are gone!" cried Roy. 

"Really? ...I didn't notice that." 

"Yeah, I just remembered something my dad used to tell me. He said one time that you'd hafta scare someone to get rid of their hiccups. Bu-but don't get mad at me! There really _was_ something in your hair! Honest!" Roy said quickly. 

"Oh... So how do you like Altea so far?" asked Marth. He layed back down and took a sandwich. Before eating it, he checked to see which kind he got (ham with Swiss cheese). 

"Altea's quite nice! It's a little colder here then in Pherae, but I like it here!" said Roy. 

"What's Pherae like?" Marth asked curiously. 

"It's nice like Altea, but it's very warm there in the summer. Err... do you like being the younger brother?" Roy asked sheepishly. 

"Yeah, kinda. I mean it's nice to have a big sister like Ellis, but there are times when I wished that I was an only child. That's because Ellis gets a _lot_ more attention than _I_ do and people think that she's cuter and smarter than _I_ am! I don't like that", grumbled Marth. 

"Really? I don't mind all that. It'd be nice to have a big brother or sister or a little brother or sister. You say that it's not fun having a sister? It's not fun being a only child!" said Roy. 

"Oh? Whaddya mean? You get all the attention, you don't have to share toys with anyone... You're so lucky!" said Marth. 

"That is if you don't mind having no one to play with sometimes. I have Lilian to play with, but sometimes I feel so lonely when I don't see her. Winter is even more lonely because I don't go outside much. You're lucky to have Ellis", sighed Roy. "Hey, if you ever get tired of her, can I borrow her? I really _really_ want a big sister!" 

Marth started to laugh, then Roy joined in. They looked over at the lake and an idea suddenly came to them. Fishing! The water was calm and the most beautiful shade of blue ever. The two princes got up and headed back to their tent. They fetched their fishing rods and ran over to the lake.


	11. Water, Water Everywhere

Marth and Roy flopped down onto the soft damp earth, eager to start fishing. Since Roy was the more experienced one, he gave Marth a few lessons on fishing. The lessons were very chaotic as Marth made several hilarious blunders. Marth got entangled in the wire, got the hook caught in his own shirt, tripped over his rod and fell _into_ the lake, tripped over his rod _again_ and fell into another ant hill, and even _threw_ the rod instead of casting the line. A very exasperated Roy had to help Marth while telling him what _not_ to do (which were all the things Marth did). Finally, they were ready to actually fish. 

"Ok, now we're gonna put the bait on the hook", said Roy. He reached down and picked up what appeared to be just an ordinary can. 

"What kinda sandwich do you think fishes like to eat?" asked Marth. 

"No, silly! Fishes don't eat _sandwiches_; they eat _this_!" Roy opened the can and pulled out a long, thin object. 

"Fishes eat pasta? Wow, they have good taste!" said Marth. 

"You _really_ need to get out more often..." Roy sighed while narrowing his eyes at Marth. "No, this ain't pasta. Here, hold it in your hands." 

Roy dropped the object onto Marth's small hands and backed up a bit. Marth looked closely at it and the object began to move a bit. It started to squirm and crawl and wiggle around in the Altean prince's hands. Marth suddenly looked quite ill as his very pale face began to turn slightly green. 

"Fishes eat worms!" said Roy. 

"Oh... my... God..." Marth suddenly felt quite weak and his knees gave out. Roy caught Marth before he fell to the ground. The worm fell out of Marth's hand and took cover underneath the dirt. 

"Marth? Maaaarth? Wake up!" shouted Roy. He shook Marth a few times to wake him up. 

Marth stirred a bit and groaned before regaining consciousness. He blinked a few times and looked up at Roy. "I... don't _like_... worms..." 

"Why not? They're not gonna hurt you! Plus fishes think that they're quite tasty! Here, I'll prove it to you!" Roy took a couple worms out of the can and held his head back with his mouth wide open. 

"DON'T!" cried Marth. 

Roy dropped the worms onto his tongue and swallowed. He looked at Marth and stuck his tongue out to show the shocked boy that the worms were now gone. "Ta da! See? They're _good_! No wonder fishes love 'im!" 

Marth looked even more sick after witnessing that. His lips quivered slightly, as if he wanted to cry out loud but couldn't. Suddenly, he keeled over and vomited. Roy went over to Marth and patted him slightly on the back. After a few minutes, Marth finally stood upright and fixed his clothes while gasping for air. 

"I'm sorry 'bout that! I was just fooling around..." Roy muttered. 

"W-w-worms are yucky... and they're covered in... g-g-germs! I j-j-just can't _believe_ you _did_ th-th-that!" cried Marth. 

"...I'll go bait your hook for you, since you don't like 'im," Roy headed back to their spot and began to bait the hooks.

* * *

The two boys were sitting back down now, waiting to get a bite. Marth was looking quite impatient while the younger pyromaniac looked very calm. The very spoiled prince kept lifting the rod up and down, hoping that the fish would bite it quickly. 

"Why am I _not_ getting a bite?!" Marth whined angrily. 

"The fishes ain't gonna come if you keep moving the rod", Roy answered back. He suddenly felt his fishing rod jerk with great force. Roy stood up and pulled back while reeling it in quickly. After a few minutes, Roy reeled in a fish. 

"WOW! LOOK AT THAT!" Marth shouted happily. 

"Cool! I got a catfish! And just look at the size of 'im, too!" Roy cried out. He was grinning from ear to ear as he held up the line. The catch of the day was flopping and wiggling like crazy as it was making a futile attempt to get free. 

"I wanna get a fish too! It's taking forev-- Gah!" 

"What's wrong?!" asked Roy. 

"I felt something pull very hard! It almost pulled the rod outta my hands", Marth answered back. "Strange, it wasn't pulling _that_ hard earlier--" 

"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU FELT IT BEFORE?!" Roy exclaimed. 

"Ugh... yeah? It's been doing that for quite a while, now that I think about it--" Marth answered timidly. 

"Well, don't just sit there! PULL IT IN, DUMMY!" Roy shouted angrily. 

"Don't call me 'dummy'! I didn't know!" Marth whined. He started to reel in the fish, but it proved to be far stronger than he anticipated. 

Roy rushed over to help Marth with the wily fish. Together, they finally managed to pull in a large fish. Marth tried to pick it up, but he kept backing away because he was afraid of it. Roy had to go over to pick it up for Marth. He wrapped his arms around the fish and walked over to the cowering Marth to show him his catch. 

"If I'm not mistaking, looks like you've caught a large catfish!" said Roy. 

"Really?! A _large_ catfish! YAY!" he cheered.

* * *

"_Sw-sw-sw-swimming?!_" exclaimed Marth. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were wide with fear. 

"Yeah! Why are you scared? ...Don't tell me; you forgot to bring something to swim in, right?" Roy asked flatly. 

"I _did_ bring something. It's just that... I'm really scared!" Marth replied. 

"C'mon! It's not bad! What's to be scared of? I'll go change, ok?" Roy walked back into the tent to change his clothes, leaving Marth standing at the water's edge. 

Marth looked down at the calm water, anxiety running throughout his body. He kept trying to repress a memory, an unpleasant one of an incident that occurred when he was younger. It kept resurfacing more and more as Marth tried to prevent it from doing so. As he was struggling with his thoughts, a sudden slap on the back brought him back to reality. Marth yelp with fear and spun around. Roy was standing there, grinning at him. 

"Whoops! Didn't mean to _scare_ you! You can go get changed", said Roy. He was in his swimming trunks, which happened to his favorite color, red. 

"Oh... Um... Sure...", Marth grumbled. He went into the tent to change as well. 

Roy dipped his hand into the water and quickly pulled it out. The water was fairly cool, but it felt more like it was Artic-cold to Roy. He rubbed his freezing cold hand repeatedly and decided to go in anyway. Gingerly, Roy placed one foot then the other one into the water. He flinched each time, feeling the painfully cold water make contact with his warm body. Roy waded further out until the water was waist-high. As if he suddenly got marooned out in the tundra without a heavy parka, the Pheraen started to shiver uncontrollably. He finally lowered himself further down until the water reached his chin. Now his teeth were chattering loudly. 

"Roy... I dunno if this is such a good idea..." Marth said very timidly. 

"Wuh-wuh-what-tuh-tuh are yuh-yuh-you tuh-tuh-talkih-kih-king abuh-buh-bout-tuh-tuh?" Roy stuttered while his teeth continued to chatter. 

"What if someone sees me?! I... I just feel real bad right now... Maybe swimming's not a good idea. We can do something else, ok?" Marth was hiding behind a tree with only his head and fingers visible. 

"F-f-for goo-goo-goodneh-neh-ness s-s-sakes! I-I-I'm fo-fo-freezing t-to deh-deh-death here ah-ah-and yuh-yuh-you d-d-don't-t-t wanna swih-wih-wim?! Wuh-wuh-why nuh-nuh-not?!" snapped Roy. 

"Don't laugh, ok?" Marth asked quietly. Roy nodded his head vigorously in response. "Uhh... erm... I don't know how to swim... _at all._" 

_That's the DUMBEST thing I've ever heard! Ol' Tiara Boy can't swim?! That's what he gets for never ever playing outside._ Roy thought to himself. He was about to start laughing at Marth, but poor Roy ended up sneezing instead. 

"Can I just go change back into my clothes?" whined the spoiled Altean prince. 

"How cuh-cuh-come you're hiding behind that chur-chur-tree?" asked Roy. His chattering was starting to slow down, allowing him to speak a little better without the very bad stuttering. 

"Well... I guess I'll come over..." Marth walked to the water's edge and stopped right there. His swimming trunks were a bright blue, but he looked even more thinner than he did when he was fully clothed. Marth noticed Roy staring at him and he suddenly felt very uneasy. 

"When we get back, I'm _soooo_ gonna force you eat cakes, ice cream, and other snacks", joked Roy. "Hop on it! Water's nice... unless you like to shiver like crazy!" 

Marth placed one foot into the water and quickly took it out. He walked away from the water's edge and headed for slightly higher ground. Roy just shrugged until he heard the most unusual sound. It sounded like a really young girl screaming with sheer joy. The voice was followed by a "ka-splosh!" afterwards. 

"What was that?!" exclaimed Roy. He looked around and saw Marth emerge from the water. 

"Yeow! Aw, man! That felt _nice_!" shouted Marth. He shook his head several times and some water went all over the place, like a soaked dog shaking to get the water off of its fur. 

"Hey, hey! Water fight!" Roy swam over to Marth and splashed him in the face. Marth countered by splashing Roy back. Both children were splashing each other while laughing. Their camping trip was going quite well for them. Nothing would go wrong... Or would it?


	12. Fire–Side Chats

Back in the castle, Corneilius was standing outside on the balcony. He was staring out to look for any signs of the boys' campsite. He heaved a sigh and began to pace back and forth. There was a gnawing fear in his mind that something might go wrong. Marth and Roy might get hurt. They might not have enough to eat for the night. They might get cold. His worries slowly shifted from both children over to just Marth. He knows that Marth might get frightened about being outside at night. The Altean king suddenly pictured his son, crying, freezing, and scared, wanting to be back inside. Unable to endure this scenario his worried-parent mind projected, Corneilius turned away to head back inside. He nearly ran into Ellis, who has been quite concerned over her father since the two boys left earlier in the day.

"Father... _please_ relax! Have some tea and--" Ellis pleased

"Tea! Marth'll probably want tea right about now... Ohh... I wish he was back here, in his room, having a tea party with his toys... Why'd I have to give in to him? I _knew_ that this wasn't a good idea, I just _knew_ it and--"

"Ellis is right, buddy", said Eliwood. He walked into the room and patted Corneilius on the shoulder. "You _should_ have a cup of tea and _relax_. Roy knows what to do in case of an emerga--"

"Did you pack any ointments for Marth?!" the king panicked. "What if he got bitten up by any insects?! _Especially_ those darned fire ants?! Poor Marth! He's probably crying because he got bitten up..." Corneilius resumed pacing, this time around the room. He continued to ramble on and on about various things that _could_ go wrong, while Eliwood and Ellis just shook their heads.

"Is he _always_ this overprotective of Marth? Could your brother even _breath_ without being worried over?" Eliwood asked Ellis.

"Sadly, yes. We're _very_ protective of my baby brother. Dad's the worst; he'll flip out if even the slightest thing isn't right with him", she sighed.

* * *

Contrary to Corneilius' worries, the effeminate boy was fast asleep inside the tent. It's been quite a day full of fun and adventure! Marth was able to go up until late afternoon/ early evening without his daily afternoon nap. While he was snoozing, Roy decided to continue to fish. He had a bag of marshmallows nearby, just in case it would take a while. So far, he's caught a few small catfish, nothing major. He was sitting cross-legged, waiting for another fish to come. He sighed, feeling bored out of his mind.

"How long's he gonna sleep?" Roy asked out loud to no one in particular. "I need someone to talk to _pronto_ or else I'll end up talking to myself like a crazy person." Roy then realized that he was doing exactly what he predicted. The youngster took a handful of marshmallows and shoved them into his mouth. The sugar would help keep him awake.

Over in the tent, Marth suddenly jerked and quickly sat up. He let out a loud shriek and cried for Roy several times. Roy hastily got up and accidentally knocked the rest of the marshmallows into the water as he ran to the tent. When Roy arrived, he found Marth sobbing and rocking back and forth. The younger prince sat down next to the older one and patted Marth's shoulders.

"Ar-Are you all right?! What happened?!" stammered Roy.

"I... Muh-Muh-Monster! Scary! It got us! So scary..." Marth cried.

"Oh, I see... You musta had a bad dream. It's ok. You're fine now. Nothing bad won't happen, it's just a dream", Roy said in a soothing voice. This got Marth to stop crying, but he still felt shaken over the nightmare.

"Um... Sorry for scaring you like this. I... eh... I have bad dreams a lot, really scary ones. I'm fine now." Marth was turning a deep shade of red, feeling rather humiliated about being frightened so easily.

"I'll go back fishing, just in case you want to be left alone for a bit", said Roy. Marth nodded while avoiding eye contact, so Roy went back to his spot.

A few minutes later, Marth emerged from the tent and wandered over to Roy. He sat down next to Roy and watched him fish. Tired of fishing, Roy stood up and stretched, then looked over to Marth.

"What do you wanna do now?" Marth asked timidly.

"Hmm... Since the sun's startin' to set, we should go pick up some wood", he replied with a joyous gleam in his blue eyes. Marth cocked an eyebrow, wondering why they need to get wood.

He looked at the sky, which was turning a pleasant pinkish-purple, and heaved a depressed sigh. Right now, the Altean prince would be on the castle grounds, protected by the stone walls that kept his worry at ease. Marth felt shaky about sleeping outside with only a tent to protect him. How can it prevent any wild animals or anything from inflicting any harm on him?

"C'mon! Let's go!" called Roy. He pulled Marth's arm and they ran off to look for wood.

* * *

"I wonder what they're up to right now...?" sighed Corneilius. He was gazing out on the balcony again, worried about the welfare of Marth.

"Fishing, swimming, just having a great time!" answered Eliwood. He took a sip of his coffee while sitting on a chair and looking at the Altean king.

"Ohh, I wish that there's _some_ way I can find them! It's getting dark outside and Marth's never been outside when it's dark before. I hope that he brought a coat because he'll catch a cold or some--"

"There you go again! Making mountains out of anthills! Just _try_ to relax and not think about this, ok?" asked Eliwood.

"Anthills! Why'd you have to bring that up? Poor Marth! I better go out and try to find them! Marth'll thank me for this!" Corneilius went to get a coat and lantern before Ellis walked in.

"Dad? What are you _doing_? You're not thinking about _looking_ for them, are you?" she asked.

"Listen, I know you're worried sick about your little brother, but rest assure! I'm going to go out and check up on him! Marth might not like being spied on like this, but he'll thank me someday because I'm just curious to see what they're up to", said Corneilius as he stepped out the door.

Eliwood and Ellis ran after him and had to struggle to get him back inside. Finally, the worried king was back inside. Eliwood just shook his head while grinning to himself, thinking about the whole situation.

"So... Um... I guess I can't go bring them any dinner, eh?" Corneilius asked sheepishly.

"Don't worry. I packed enough sandwiches for them so that they can have them for dinner as well", said Ellis.

"Well, you _know_ how finicky your brother gets about food. He'll love to eat one kind of food during a meal then he'll hate it during the next meal." The worried Altean walked over to the balcony and stared out into space, thinking about his son's safety again.

* * *

Back at the campsite, Roy and Marth dropped armloads of sticks onto the ground. Roy dug a shallow hole in the ground and moved the sticks into the hole. The Pheraen dug into his pockets and pulled out a small box that made a light scratching sound as he moved the box around. He opened it and there were many matches inside! Taking a single match, Roy struck it against the tiny box and it suddenly ignited. Marth backed away from Roy, fearing the match in his hand. Roy walked over to the pile of sticks and dropped the lit match onto the pile. A few minutes later, the sticks started to catch on fire. Roy grinned dreamily as the fire started to pick up.

"Wuh-wuh-why do you carry matches with you?" Marth asked meekly.

"Because I love to light things on fire all the time!" Roy replied eagerly.

He looked around for something else to set on fire and his eyes fell upon a few stray sticks. He picked them off the ground and handed one to Marth. Roy lit his on fire, then he lit Marth's on fire as well. Marth held his away from himself, fearing that he might get burned.

"Yee heh ha ta ta ta!" Roy shouted at the top of his lungs.

"What in the world...?" Marth asked while staring at Roy confusedly.

"C'mon! Let's go around with these lit sticks and chant things!" Roy answered.

"Ok, then..."

The boys marched around their campsite, chanting loudly as if they were ancient tribal people.

"Yee heh ha ta ta ta!" cried Roy.

"Keee ha mo-ata!" shrieked Marth.

"Keee ha mo-atata!"

"Loo-ta matata!"

"YEEEEeeeeee!" both princes yelled loudly in unison. They started to crack up laughing and dropped their sticks.

"You hungry?" asked Roy. "Wanna go eat right now?"

* * *

In front of the fire, the two boys were having their dinner. Again, Roy was eating at least two sandwiches at a time while Marth was checking to see which ones he got. It's gotten a bit darker now that the sun's shift ended. The light breeze blew a little, chilling the air.

"Hey, Roy? Are there any more sandwiches that have white cheese on them?" asked Marth as he finished up his sandwich.

"I think so... Why just white cheese?" he replied.

"I like white cheese better than yellow. It just tastes better", said Marth.

"Hn... There's either ones with yellow cheese or there's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches", said Roy. Marth nodded as he just said that, so Roy handed him a PB&J one.

"What do we do after we eat?" asked Marth.

"We tell scary stories! Really, really scary ones!" Roy said eagerly.

* * *

"I have a really scary one. It's so scary that you won't go to sleep!" gulped Marth. He looked quite fearful, scanning the area for anything that might leap out at him.

"Ok, tell it then!" said Roy.

"Once upon a time there was a teeny-tiny woman who lived in a teeny-tiny house in a teeny-tiny village. Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put on her teeny-tiny bonnet, and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take a teeny-tiny walk. And when this teeny-tiny woman had gone a teeny-tiny way, she came to a teeny-tiny gate; so the teeny-tiny woman opened the teeny-tiny gate, and went into a teeny-tiny churchyard."

"Does _everything_ hafta begin with 'teeny-tiny'?!" whined Roy.

"And when this teeny-tiny woman had got into the teeny-tiny churchyard, she saw a teeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny grave, and the teeny-tiny woman said to her teeny-tiny self, 'This teeny-tiny bone will make me some teeny-tiny soup for my teeny-tiny supper.' So the teeny-tiny woman put the teeny-tiny bone into her teeny-tiny pocket, and went home to her teeny-tiny house."

"Wow, you sounded _just_ like that lady!" joked Roy.

"Now, when the teeny-tiny woman got home to her teeny-tiny house, she was a teeny-tiny bit tired; so she went up her teeny-tiny stairs to her teeny-tiny bed, and put the teeny-tiny bone into a teeny-tiny cupboard. And when this teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep a teeny-tiny time, she was awakened by a teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard, which said, 'Give me my bone!'

"And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny frightened, so she hid her teeny-tiny head under the teeny-tiny clothes and went to sleep again. And when she had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the teeny-tiny voice again cried out from the teeny-tiny cupboard a teeny-tiny louder, 'Give me my bone!'

"This made the teeny-tiny woman a teeny-tiny more frightened, so she hid her teeny-tiny head a teeny-tiny further under the teeny-tiny clothes. And when the teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard said again a teeny-tiny louder, 'Give me my bone!'

"And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny bit more frightened, but she put her teeny-tiny head out of the teeny tiny clothes, and said in her loudest teeny-tiny voice,..." Marth paused and looked deviously at Roy. For a few moments, the only sound hear was the cackling of the fire, the breeze, and a few insects chirping. Marth took a deep breath and shouted "'TAKE IT!'"

Roy fell over backwards in surprise. Marth looked even more frightened than earlier. He heard Roy chuckling quietly until it grew louder. Soon, Roy was laughing so hard that his face was red.

"What's so funny?" asked Marth.

"You are! You call _that_ a scary story!? HA! I've heard that fairy tale before and it's a funny one! Don't tell me that that story scared you so badly!"

Marth just looked down at the ground, feeling rather ashamed. He sniffled a bit while trying to fight back tears.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry about that. Don't cry, ok?" Roy got up and wrapped his arm around Marth to comfort him a bit.

"Do you know any scary stories?" Marth asked timidly.

"Yeah, real scary ones. But I don't wanna tell you them because I don't want to scare you", Roy replied.

They just sat around the fire in awkward silence. Finally, Roy decided to break the ice and start up some conversation.

"So... What do you wanna be when you grow up? Besides the king of Altea", joked Roy. He opened a bottle of soda and took a drink.

"I wanna be a Pegasus Knight!" Marth chirped happily.

Roy immediately spat out his soda and began to cough loudly. Marth pounded on Roy's back until the pyromaniac stopped coughing.

"Are you all right?!" exclaimed Marth.

"You... You're not serious about that, are you?! You _really_ wanna be a Pegasus Knight?!" asked a very shocked Roy.

"Yep! I sure do! Pegasus Knights are so cool! They're so pretty and they soar the skies on Pegasuses and I'll do _anything_ to be a Pegasus Knight! _ANYTHING_!" Marth immediately jumped up onto his feet, too excited about the idea to sit back down.

"You _do_ know that all Pegasus Knights are _girls_, right?" Roy cocked an eyebrow at Marth.

"I don't care if I'm the only boy Pegasus Knight! I wanna be one _so_ badly! It's my lifelong dream! I'll do anything to become one!"

"...And my folks thought that _I_ was crazy when I'm sugar high..." Roy muttered to himself.

"Oh! How about you? What do you wanna be?" asked Marth, who was still hyped up.

"Hmm... Lessee... That's a toughie... I wanna be like my dad! A general! Yes! I can be a leader for an army! No, no, wait! A cavalier! Like Sain and Kent! Wait, not like _Sain_, who goes around and talks to pretty ladies and get beaten black an' blue... Oh! Like Hector! I haven't told you about him, have I? Well, he's a big idiot too, but he's not like Sain. I know! I wanna be a pirate! Dad knows this one guy named Dart and he's a cool pirate! No, Guy! He's a cool swordsman! I wanna be like him! No, a mage! A mage that can cast fire spells! Yeah! Like Erk! Mwahahaha! Ooh, yay! Cast _lotsa_ fire spells! SET A BUNCHA STUFF ON FIRE!!! WOO-HOO!" Roy was jumping up and down, as if he just consumed an entire sack of pure sugar in a single sitting.

"You're scaring me now", said Marth.


	13. A Hard Day's Night

It was getting very late, plus Marth was getting antsy about staying outside. He and Roy climbed into the tent and got into their pajamas. They climbed into their sleeping bags, but Marth reached into his knapsack for something. He pulled out a familiar black-and-white plushie and began to hug it tightly.

"Why'd ya hafta bring Pan-Pan along?!" whined Roy.

"I can't sleep without her! I get scared at night and can't sleep, so I have Pan-Pan to keep me company," said Marth.

"You're scared of the dark?" asked Roy. He chuckled as Marth continued to hug Pan-Pan.

"Well… uh… kinda, sorta, not really…" mumbled Marth.

"It's ok. You'll be safe with me. I ain't gonna let nothing get you cuz you're my bestest friend," said Roy. He wrapped his arms around Marth, who was now calm.

"You're my bestest and _only_ friend, didja know that?" Marth sighed contently. Roy suddenly let go and stared at Marth with pity. "Why'd you do that?" he asked curiously. "You're… not used to hugging, right? That's… to 'girly'?"

"Oh, Marth… Why didn't you tell me earlier that you didn't have no friends?" gasped Roy.

"I dunno. Is that a bad thing? To never having friends?" Marth sat down and looked up to Roy while holding Pan-Pan close to his chest.

"Do ya ever get lonely when you didn't have nobody to play with?" asked Roy.

"Sometimes. I play with my sister all the time. When her friends have a sleepover here, they let me be with them. Mommy, Daddy, and everyone else in the castle would play with me too," said Marth. "But… But when I try to make friends with other kids, they… they…" His voice cracked a bit as he tried to go on. Unable to continue, Marth buried his face into his hands and cried.

"…The other kids didn't want to be your friend?" asked Roy. Marth nodded as he continued to cry. "Why? Why don't they not like you at all?"

"They… they say that I'm _mean_ an' _bossy_ an' a girly-boy. It's _not_ true! Not true at all!" Marth cried harder as he recalled all those memories when the kids would bully him and call him names. "Roy? Do you think that I'm like that? Am I really that girly? Bossy? Mean?" asked Marth. "Please be honest, ok?"

"Well… I… Ugh…" Roy stammered.

How could he tell Marth the truth? If he told the truth, Marth _might_ take it the wrong way and cry harder, not to mention end their friendship. But if he lied, then that would be wrong to do. Roy just sat there, thinking over this and how the kids were right. He thought about how Marth ordered him around like a slave and how he'd throw a fit when he didn't get his way. Roy also thought about how the older prince would have tea parties with his plushies and even dress up in his sister's clothes and pretend to be a girl.

"Roy? Roy? Roy? Are you _asleep_?"

"Huh? What?" Roy looked and saw Marth stare at him with concern. The effeminate prince looked ready to start another crying fit.

"…I guess it's true then", sniffled Marth.

"No, it's not. I was thinking… about those jerks. Those other kids are jus' jealous of ya cuz you're a prince", said Roy. He felt horrible about lying to Marth because he knew that Marth could be rather mean and bossy. He didn't blame the other kids for picking on Marth for his extremely feminine behavior because he too was guilty of the same crime.

"Really? Thanks, Roy. You _are_ a true friend!" Marth hugged Roy tightly while crying again.

"C'mon, we have to go to sleep now. Plus it's getting a tad chilly", said Roy.

As Roy covered up in a few layers of blankets, Marth reached into his knapsack again for something else. He pulled out a light pink blanket that had a large white bunny printed on it that kind of matched his pajamas. (The pajamas were a pink shirt and shorts that had a bunch of little hearts and white bunnies on them.) He started to stroke it and started to feel at peace for some reason.

"What's that yer holdin'?" Roy asked curiously.

"Oh! It's my blankie. I've had it ever since I was born", Marth answered back.

"Your… _blankie_?! You've kept _that_?!" exclaimed Roy.

"Yeah, when I go to sleep, I need Pan-Pan, my blankie, and my binky. Sometimes my bottle too. I've got 'em in here, somewhere…" Marth started to rummage through his knapsack while holding the security blanket in one hand.

Roy tried to hold back laughter, but the young mamkute couldn't help picturing Marth with all those items. He ended up laughing hysterically at his own imagination.

"Aha! Found it!" cried Marth. He pulled out a sky blue pacifier and stuck it in his mouth. "I think Ellis forgot my bottle, though…," he said to no one in particular.

"You are _such_ a big baby!" laughed Roy. "Lemme guess; you still wear diapers as well?"

"No way! Why would I do _that_ for?" said Marth.

"I just thought that since you have a buncha baby stuff, you'd also wear diapers," joked Roy. He wiped away some tears from his eyes that were caused by his laughter.

"Not funny, Roy!" grumbled Marth. He turned his back to Roy and curled up in fetal position.

"I know, I know. Sorry, Marth. I just found that really funny. You're older than me, but you still sleep with a blankie and have to have a binky. C-can you forgive me for making fun of you?" asked Roy. He didn't get a response, so he just assumed that Marth was too upset to answer back. "Are ya mad at me?" Roy crawled over to Marth and turned him over onto his back. Turned out that Marth was fast asleep! Now relieved, Roy went back into his sleeping bag and curled up to go to sleep.

* * *

A few hours later, Roy was still wide awake. He doesn't fall asleep as easily as Marth. Roy kept glancing over to Marth, wishing that he would be awake too and just talk about anything. Roy was feeling so desperate for conversation that he was even considering listening to Marth talk all about himself. He suddenly heard something scurry by outside. Roy looked around and heard the sound again. This time, Marth bolted up, fearing for the worst. 

"W-w-what was that?!" he stuttered.

"I have no idea," Roy answered back.

"Is it… a _monster_?" Marth whimpered quietly.

"Nahh, I doubt it. Probably a rat or some--"

"A RAT?! EWW! GROSS! YUCKY! ICKY!" cried Marth. He clutched tightly onto Pan-Pan while rocking himself back and forth.

"I _would_ like to go catch it, but I'm too cold! Nighty-night, Marth," said Roy. He curled up and tried to go to sleep.

"You wanna… _catch_ an icky rat that is all dirty and _covered_ in yucky germs that'll make you really, really, really sick?!" squeaked Marth.

"Yeah… Whaddya think?" replied Roy. This made him feel so nauseated that he put the pacifier back into his mouth to keep himself from getting the urge to throw up.

A few minutes later, Marth heard some large creature move around outside. He crawled over to the entrance and opened the flap of the tent to see what it was. The creature was a large bear! Marth looked at it curiously (for it was very dark and he didn't tell what it was) and the bear stood upright on its hind legs with its forelegs raised. Marth's blue eyes grew in fear and he turned a sickly white.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOYYY!!!" Marth shrieked at the top of his lungs. It was safe to say that he _did_ sound like a girl when he did that!

"Hnn… Wha?" Roy asked sleepily. Marth jumped _onto_ Roy's stomach and screamed out his name again. "Oo-ah! That hurts! What gives?!"

Too frightened to speak clearly, Marth was babbling very quickly. He was shaking very badly and was pointing at random objects.

"…Riiiiight," Roy said dryly while narrowing his eyes at the traumatized Marth.

Marth repeatedly pointed behind Roy while shouting out nonsensical sounds. Roy just looked dumbstruck as he tried to figure out what the effeminate boy was trying to say. It took him a full 10 minutes before he realized what Marth just witnessed. Although Roy was quite a fearless child, he wasn't all that bright. He looked out and came face-to-face with the bear itself.

"Uh… What kinda animal _is_ this?" Roy asked curiously. The bear roared loudly in Roy's face in reply to his question. "C-could ya repeat that?" asked Roy.

Marth yanked on Roy's shirt and tried (but failed) to pull him back into the tent. "That's a scary monster! It's gonna hurtcha!" cried Marth.

"I think it's hungry," Roy said calmly.

"What are you _talking_ about?! You're either very sleepy or very stupid!" Marth replied.

"Trust me on this one. Whenever you--I mean _I_ get hungry, I start to get _really_ grumpy," Roy stammered. "Do we have any sandwiches left or did we eat them all?"

"You mean _you_ ate them all," corrected Marth. "I think we might have a peanut butter and jelly one left… if you didn't eat it already."

Roy went through the picnic basket and found the sandwich. He peeked back outside and the bear was meandering by their campsite. Roy got out and approached the bear carefully with his hand extended out. He carefully moved slowly over to the bear and it began to sniff the sandwich. The bear didn't stop there and sniffed this strange creature that was in front of it from head to toe. It was curious about what Roy had in his hand, so it took a bite out of the sandwich. It realized that what Roy had was edible, so it began to eat the whole thing. Afterwards, it started to lick Roy's sticky hand.

Roy headed back into the tent after making sure that the bear had decided to leave. Marth was rocking back and forth, wrapped up in his security blanket with his pacifier in his mouth and Pan-Pan close to his chest. It was obvious that he was very worried about Roy's safety and many scenarios were playing in his mind. Roy noticed this, so he patted Marth's shoulder a few times to let him know that everything was all right. They _finally_ got back into their sleeping bags and went to sleep.

* * *

While Roy was sleeping, Marth got up and left the tent. He didn't bother to wake up Roy, which wouldn't make any difference. Marth was an incredibly light sleeper where almost _anything_ would wake him up. Roy, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. He was such a heavy sleeper that sometimes no matter how loud you'd have to yell or how strong you'd have to shake him awake, it would be totally ineffective. This ability to sleep through practically anything could be a major flaw if there was any sort of danger, however. 

Marth walked over to where the lake was, not worried about anything. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that he wasn't awake at all; he was _sleepwalking_! The Altean dripped his hand into the water to feel the temperature. It was incredibly arctic; something that Roy would _never_ tolerate. It wasn't until about 10 minutes later when Marth returned to the tent. His hair was damp and his whole body (and pajamas) were completely soaked. Marth curled up into fetal position again and fell back to sleep. Roy groaned a bit as he sat up. He reached for another blanket, barely awake when Marth started screaming loudly. He looked around sleepily before registering Marth's voice. That's when he realized that something could be wrong.

"M-Marth? What… is it?" Roy yawned loudly.

"I'm all wet!" he wailed.

"Why are you wet? Didja have an accident?" Roy asked, still half-asleep. An awkward silence from Marth indicated to Roy that he was probably right. Little did he know was that it was really due to sleepwalking--err, swimming. "Well… uh… g'night," Roy quickly said before going back to sleep.

"…I want to go home, first thing in the morning…" Marth muttered under his breath. According to his tone of voice, he was very embarrassed about what happen. He had no idea about the fact that he sleepwalks, so he thought that Roy was correct.

"Ok, then. First thing… first… thing…" Roy couldn't finish his sentence due to sleepiness and he zonked out, snoring softly.


	14. Bunny and Clyde

"ROYYYYYYYYYYY!" shrieked a high-pitch voice.

"Zzzz... hn?" Roy answered while still sleeping.

"I had a bad dream!" Marth whined.

"Hmm... Zzzzz..."

It was still a bit dark outside, but the sun was starting to rise. Marth crawled over to Roy and kept nudging him to wake him up. Seeing as that has failed, Marth came up with a devious plan. Putting his shoes on, Marth left the tent and headed to where he took a late-night swim during the night. Marth dipped his hands into the frigid water, wincing from the extreme coldness. Unlike Roy, he could tolerate it more. After waiting a few moments, Marth removed his hands from the water and shook them dry. He could feel that his hands were icy cold. Returning to the tent, Marth took his shoes off and _still_ found Roy sleeping lazily. The pyromaniac was sprawled out on his back, snoring softly. Marth began to remove each layer of blanket until Roy was uncovered. Oblivious to Marth's prank in the making, Roy continued to slumber in dreamland. Marth lifted Roy's pajama shirt up enough for his stomach to show. He knew that the Pheraen hated the cold and that his stomach was a weakness. Grinning evilly, Marth placed both cold hands on Roy's stomach and hoped that his little scheme was well crafted.

Roy's painful screaming echoed throughout the area, startling the birds from their nests. He bolted upright and wrapped his warm arms over his stomach while moaning and whimpering softly.

"Why'd you do that? That _hurts_ a lot!" Roy cried angrily.

"I was calling for you cuz I had a really scary bad dream but you didn't wake up and save me, so I had to do it myself!" Marth grumbled quietly.

Roy was fuming for a few minutes and remained quiet. Marth started to search his sleeping bag for Pan-Pan while enjoying the sudden silence. After the temporary silent treatment, Roy decided to break the ice.

"Ah, man... I'll do anythin' fer a _huge_ breakfast right now." Roy patted his growling stomach, daydreaming about a delicious feast.

"Would ya go take a nice dip in the lake for one?" Marth asked with a sly grin on his face and a mischievous glint in his baby blue eyes.

"Sure!" Roy answered. He ran right out of the tent, barefoot, and leaped headfirst into the cold lake. He quickly emerged, shivering uncontrollably and glaring angrily at Marth.

"Oh, wait... I don't think we have anything for breakfast. You ate all the sandwiches yesterday," said Marth.

"I-I-I-I rih-rih-rih-really hate-tih-tih-tih y-y-y-you f-f-f-for th-th-th-this-s-s-s!" Roy cried angrily. He came out of the water, wrapped his arms around himself and kept his scowl fixated on Marth. His teeth were chattering no matter how much he tried to keep them still.

"Wow... You really are stupid, Roy!" Marth giggled femininely at Roy while pointing at him. Roy returned the comment by scowling even more while emitting a low, deep growl in his throat.

While the wet half-dragon boy headed back into the tent to change into something dryer, Marth began to wash his face in the lake. He didn't have any soap or even a toothbrush and toothpaste with him, so Marth constructed a mental to-do list instructing himself to brush his teeth and wash his face again when he returns to the castle. Marth returned to the tent, only to find Roy half-dressed and fast asleep again. Roy had his pants on backwards (but with one leg through the wrong one and the other leg wasn't inside) and his shirt was inside out and unbuttoned. Marth just sighed and shook his head at the site. Mustering all the strength he had, Marth made an attempt to drag Roy out of the tent and outside. He wanted to get dressed, but he was very self-conscious about changing his clothes in front of anyone (including family members). After getting Roy outside, Marth closed the flap to the entrance and got dressed.

Marth came out of the tent dressed in a cutesy pink shirt with a fluffy white bunny on the front and matching pink shorts. It really irked him when the colors and designs on his clothes mismatched. Seeing that Roy hasn't woken up yet, Marth started howling with laughter. Marth decided to have a little fun with his snoozing partner-in-crime, but the question was _how_? Spotting some mud by the water's edge and noticing the sticks they played with the previous day, an idea came to the effeminate prince. Marth picked up a stick and gathered some mud on it (he can't get dirty AT ALL because he's afraid of picking up germs and stuff), then headed to Roy. _Teehee! This'll be so much fun!_

Roy didn't wake up until an hour later. The hunger was a lot stronger than earlier and he was still a touch sleepy. Realizing that his pants weren't on right, he adjusted them (but they were still on backwards). He didn't bother with his shirt, but began to notice the odd markings on his chest and stomach. Roy headed over to the water to look at his reflection. Not only did he have mud splattered down from his chest to his hungry belly, but he also had a lot of mud on his face. Roy didn't mind being covered in mud or being dirty in general. To him, that's just a boy thing to do: get covered in dirt, mud, and grass stains. He didn't understand why Marth was so advert about such boy activities. Marth, on the other hand, didn't understand why anyone in their right mind would enjoy this.

Roy looked inside the tent and didn't see Marth in there. He did find his friend's sleeping area made up like a bed. The Pheraen prince decided to go look around the campsite for his partner-in-crime. _Hn... maybe he went looking for breakfast for us..._ Roy thought to himself as he meandered around.

Several yards away, Marth was within the massive trees of the forest. He wasn't lost or in fact worried. Our genderly-challenged friend was playing with some of the woodland animals that inhabited the area. Sitting on a stump, Marth was constantly giggling as he watched the squirrels play at his feet, the birds singing their songs, and a baby deer nuzzling against him. With his beloved Pan-Pan resting in his arms, Marth felt at peace.

He began daydreaming about one major "what if" that was constantly on his mind: what if he was born as a girl instead of a boy. Like most people, he wasn't totally pleased with something about himself. Some people didn't like their hair, their eyes, etc. Marth always had this nagging feeling in the back of his mind, this feeling that he was in the wrong body. He constantly wished to be a girl because it just didn't feel right being a boy. He looked more like a girl than a boy, he had the mind of one, and he even sounded like one with his high-pitched voice. Every birthday, he'd wish for this when he blew out the candles. He'd lie to his family and say something like he wished for a panda of his own, for example. Marth was so absorbed in his little fantasies that he didn't know that he was found. A sudden slap on the back aroused him from his daydreaming.

"Eeeek! Who's that?" Marth squeaked with his already high-pitched voice jumping up several more octaves.

"Hahahaha! Boy, you sound so funny when I scare ya!" laughed Roy. He leaned on Marth's shoulders as he continued to laugh.

"Sh-sh-shut up... I don't like that. Plus you hit really hard," Marth whined. His voice didn't go back down to his usual range.

"Why ya all the way out here?" asked Roy once he got calmed down.

Marth shrugged and looked down at his feet. "I dunno... I just like to be alone and think," he mumbled with his voice finally down where it usually is.

"About what?" Roy asked.

"...Stuff."

"What kinda stuff?" Roy was starting to get on Marth's nerves for his sudden nosiness.

"It's kinda hard to 'splain. You'll laugh and make fun of me if I told you. Maybe later..." Marth heaved a sigh and scanned the area for his animal friends that retreated from Roy.

"C'mon! Please tell me! I wanna know _now_! Ooh, now I can't stop wondering what it is! Pleeeeease?" Roy shook Marth a little, but the blue-haired child shot him a peeved glare at him.

"No, it's nothing. I dunno what I was saying. I've been up too early and I just talk about stuff that people don't know and then they think I'm crazy for doing that, but it's just that it's morning and cold and I'm very hungry right now and I wish that you didn't hafta be such a dang pig and go eat everything like a big fat pig but that's just you and you're the way you are and like it, but not me cuz I wish I wasn't like this, but I like being a girl but I wish I _was_ one cuz it'd be so much easier than saying that I'm a boy when I'm not and it feels so weird saying that, know what I mean?"

Roy just stared off into space for he didn't understand a single thing Marth had just mumbled. He blinked a few times and make a sound in his throat that could translate to as "Uh-huh...".

He and Marth began to leave for their little campsite. As they walked, Roy kept glancing over to Marth to see if he was ok. Marth didn't speak much and heaved an occasional depressed sigh. They finally reached camp and began to pack up. As they started to head back to the castle, Marth turned around to look at his little sanctuary. A few tears began to run down his pale cheeks as Marth thought about some of the wildlife that were comforting him. Along the way back to the castle, both boys tried to keep awake as they ambled. There were a few times when they would start nodding off to sleep while walking only to jerk awake and feel confused, as if they just dreamt. Most of the time, they alternated between starting to fall asleep. At one point, they _both_ began snoozing while walking only to bump into each other.

Finally, Marth and Roy returned to the castle. Jeigan helped take their belongings inside for they were very fatigued. Marth headed to his room and closed the door (to sleep, perhaps) and Roy headed towards the kitchen. The younger lad couldn't bear the hunger any longer. He took several items from the kitchen and decided to go search for Marth again. While searching and consuming the food he took, Roy found Marth curled up in his bed, fast asleep. He decided to wake him up for breakfast.

"Eh, Mahf? Way guhp! Time foh brehgfast!" said Roy with his mouth stuffed with food. He kept nudging Marth, but he didn't wake up. The trip definitely wore out the elder prince.

Ellis peeked into the room and spotted the boys. She was in her pajamas for it was still too early in the morning to be awake.

"Marthy? Roy? How was the trip?" she asked, unable to contain her cheeriness.

"He's-gulp! He's sleepin' cuz it's mornin'", replied Roy. "I hope the cooks are ready to cook today cuz I'm _starvin'_! We shoulda bringed more sandwiches..."

He and Ellis left Marth's room to let him sleep. The snoozing lad was dreaming about the animals he saw in the forest, but he was also in the dream as a girl. He (or this case, _she_) was happily playing with the forest friends without a care in the world.

* * *

The summer air grew increasingly humid and the temperatures scorching as each day passed over Altea. Both fathers took the kids to another village to spend the afternoon at. They were nearly done for the day and ready to go back to Castle Altea. Course, Marth wasn't ready to leave without raising Cain while dragging the half-dragon Roy into the fray.

"Ooh! Wookie at the cute wittle bunny-wunnies!" squealed Marth. He and Roy were passing by a large box full of fluffy baby rabbits.

"So many of them!" gasped Roy.

"I want one! Roy, buy me one!" begged the older prince as he grabbed Roy's sleeve.

"But I don't have any money! I spent it all…," mumbled Roy.

"Well if you hadn't spent it all on food like a big fat pig, then you could have enough to buy me a bunny rabbit!" Marth growled at him.

"If you want one _that_ bad, buy it yerself!" retorted the Mamkute.

"Why should I?"

"You have a ton of moneys! You don't need to use other people's moneys!" said Roy.

"I don't wanna use mine," said Marth. "I want one without having to use money…"

"The only way I know is to steal it," Roy answered. "Too bad yer not a thief like Matthew or something!"

Ironically, the owner of the box of bunnies was absent. He was probably attending to some other business. Too bad for him or else this would have came to a quick end. As Roy walked away to go find Ellis, Marth looked at the rabbits again. He saw one that tickled his fancy. It was the same age as the rest of the litter, but this one was larger and heavier with twice the amount of fluffiness than the others. It was black and white, just like Pan-Pan. Marth could not leave without it and he would amount to anything to own it.

Marth ran up to the Pheraen child, panting and clutching something in his skinny arms. Roy took one look and noticed a black furry ear poking out from his arms. The younger prince could not believe this and his jaw dropped to the ground.

"What… are you… DOING?" exclaimed Roy.

"I did exactly what you say I should of done," replied Marth.

"You stole 'im? Did anyone see you?" Roy gasped.

"Teehee! I got away with this!" Marth could not keep from smiling and he began to giggle uncontrollably (yet femininely).

"Lemme guess: 'Ooh! I'm Prince Marth and I want _that_ bunny! You have to give it to me cuz I said so! If you don't do what I say, then I'll cry and tell my daddy on you!'" Roy emulated Marth's feminine mannerisms, voice, and gestures but in a highly exaggerated fashion. Marth growled at Roy and clutched his prize tighter to his chest.

"No one was there, dingbat," Marth objected grumpily, while on the brink of crying.

"How ya gonna get that bunny back to the castle without getting caught?" asked Roy.

Marth thought a bit for he didn't really formulate his plan too much. He looked up at Roy and answered "I could use my money… and you too."

Exactly what he was talking about, we don't know yet. It was finally time to leave and Ellis was searching for her effeminate brother and his pyromaniac friend. She passed by an ice cream parlor and stopped to find them just exiting. Marth was skipping out sans the stolen animal while Roy waddled out alongside him. Ellis took one look at Roy and began to laugh at his comical appearance. Roy's face was covered in various syrups from the ice creams and in the various ice creams themselves. He also looked like he had consumed quite a few because his large belly was sticking out very noticeably. Roy hiccuped and/or burped a few times every minute while Marth snickered loudly.

"What happened, guys?" asked Ellis.

Roy hiccuped in reply, causing Marth to snicker even more.

"Well… I told him that I'd buy him ice cream if he was hungry and boy, was he! He just ate and ate and ate! Luckily, the owner let us have it for free because _I'm_ the prince of Altea! Who knows how much we'd hafta pay…" Marth glanced over at Roy, who still had the bouts of hiccups and burps.

"Hn… I guess you're right about that!" answered Ellis. She turned to Roy and said "Boy, is Lord Eliwood going to flip out!"

"Hic! Yeah…," Roy mumbled followed by a large belch. "But it was so-hic- good! Caramel… chocolate… hic! Can I go back and get some-hic! Burp-more?"

"We can't. We're about to leave, so maybe once we return to the castle," answered Ellis.

The ride back to the castle was a little quieter than usual because of the fact that Roy went a little overboard with the ice cream. Usually he'd be too hyped up to stay still due to the sugar, but in this case he was too stuffed to move an inch. All he did on the trip back was groan and rub his belly. When they finally arrived, Marth and Roy headed to the elder child's room.

"Teehee! You look funny like that!" giggled Marth.

"Well, it ain't funny having to walk around with _this_!" growled Roy as he pointed to his bulging stomach.

Marth lifted up Roy's shirt and grabbed the rabbit that he had stolen. Roy heaved a sigh of relief and flopped down onto the ground, stomach first. Marth quickly closed the door and began to play with his newfound pet.

"So… What are we gonna name him?" asked Roy.

"What do you mean 'we'? _I_ get to name _her_!" Marth shot back.

"Sor-ree! What are you gonna name her?"

Marth put his finger to his lip and thought a bit. He then answered "I'm gonna name her 'Snuffles'!"

"'_Snuffles_'? What kinda stupid name is _THAT_?" Roy exclaimed.

"It's not stupid; it's cute. Of course, you're a boy and you don't understand cuteness like me!" Marth answered conceitedly.

"…You're a boy too." Roy cocked an eyebrow at Marth along with his reply.

"Yeah… Well… It's um… You'll laugh if I told you, so just believe me, got it?" Marth kept his stare fixated on the floor while Snuffles hopped to his arm.

"Whatever you say…" Roy's stomach growled loudly enough for Marth to hear it. He rubbed it and stood up. "I'm gonna get a snack, want anything?"

"Nah, I'll just play with my itty-bitty wittle baby Snuffles!" Marth cradled his rabbit and began to converse with her in baby talk. Roy just rolled his eyes and left the room.

Marth climbed into bed and took a nap with his new pet with him. Roy came back a little while later, patting his very full stomach. He took notice of Marth, so he decided to steal the bunny from Marth. Slowly and surely, Roy tried to take the rabbit. It began to fidget and Marth stirred a bit in his sleep. The half-dragon child held his breath, hoping that Marth would fall back asleep. He did, luckily, so Roy managed to pick up the rabbit. He would have made off like a bandit if Marth hadn't woken himself up by sneezing.

"Wha… Pan-Pan…" Marth was barely awake and his hand landed upon his beloved toy. "Ugh… Snu-Snuffles?" He looked around and found Roy standing by the door, ready to bolt with the rabbit in captivity.

"GIMME MY SNUFFLES BACK!" hollered Marth.

"Later, gator!" Roy took off running as fast as he could muster. Marth hopped out of his bed and pursued him.

They tore down the corridors of Castle Altea, knocking servants and basically anyone in their path out of the way. Roy came outside and Marth was barely on his tail. Marth tackled Roy, who accidentally tossed the furry friend onto the grass. They began to wrestle each other to the ground while engaging in a melee of sorts. Jeigan headed towards them, confident that he'll be able to stop them.

"Now, now, gentlemen… Fighting's not going to solve anything!" he said. The old man pried them about, but that didn't really put out their anger.

"Where is she? What'd you do with her?" exclaimed Marth, who was in hysterics.

"I… I musta throwed her over there or something…" Roy pointed and found the rabbit.

"What's going on?" asked Jeigan.

"Roy kidnapped Snuffles and wouldn't give her back to me!" wailed Marth.

"You get to play with her more than me!" retorted Roy.

"Lord Roy, you should not keep Lord Marth's plushies from him," said Jeigan.

"Snuffles isn't a plushie; she's a bunny." Marth hugged Snuffles tightly and began to cry.

"Err… mind telling me where you acquired her?" Jeigan asked nervously. He happened to know all about Marth's kleptomania, along with everyone else in the castle.

"Roy wouldn't buy her for me when we went to the village, so I had to get her myself!"

The redhead looked up at the elderly paladin and gulped nervously. "…We're not gonna be in a lotta trouble, are we?"

"I should take her back. As long as I return her to the vendor and explain everything to him, then no questions'll be asked," answered Jeigan. He reached for Snuffles with his hands out, but Marth turned away.

"She's mine…," whined Marth.

"Your Highness, I need to return her. You don't want to get in trouble for taking something that doesn't belong to you, correct?" Jeigan prayed that his reasoning would work on the awfully spoiled Marth.

"MINE!" screamed Marth. He moved to keep the rabbit out of Jeigan's grasp. Roy was right next to him, so he tried to take it from Marth again.

"C'mon… We'll get in trouble for keeping her!" said Roy.

"NO! My bunny! I keep her!" It was quite obvious that when Marth had his mind set on something, it was nearly impossible to change it.

Roy tried to grab Snuffles again, but a swift kick to the stomach prevented him from doing so. Jeigan also tried, but he stopped and noticed Marth aiming his foot at him. Since Marth's leg was shorter than Jeigan's, he would have kicked the advisor somewhere else instead. Marth then ran back inside, screaming and crying as Jeigan tried to retrieve the rabbit from him.

"DADDY! DADDY!" bawled Marth.

"Sport…? What's going on? Where'd you get that-"

"WAAAH! DADDY! Jeigan and Roy won't lemme keep Snuffles and she's MINE! All mine! I _order_ you to tell them that I'm gonna keep her no matter what!" Marth sank to his knees and cried while his father tried to let it all sink in.

"Wait… Snuffles?" Corneilius looked down and noticed the rabbit in Marth's arms. "Ma… Ma… Did you… _STEAL_ her?" he exclaimed.

"Uh-huh! But of course! Roy wouldn't buy her for me so I had to!" whined Marth.

Corneilius could not believe what he had just heard! He grabbed Marth by the arm and forced him to get into the carriage. Despite Marth's protesting, they headed back to the village that they've been to earlier. Clutching Snuffles tightly, Marth lead his father to where he stole her at. They meet the vendor, who was ready to pack up.

"E-Excuse me, Sir…" Corneilius stammered. "Th-This is my-my son, Marth. He… yuh… kinda took one of your rabbits without paying."

"Oho! I was wondering where it went off to!" said the vendor.

"I'm so sorry about this. I've taught him to never steal, yet he does it anyway… Please, I'm so sorry! Look, I'll even pay for her even though… I… ugh… I'm returning her…"

"I DUN WANNA!" Marth screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Marth! You _have_ to give her back! She's not yours!"

The King of Altea grabbed Snuffles out of Marth's arms and handed her to the vendor. Upset about his lose, Marth threw himself down onto the ground and began to have a tantrum. He shouted all the cliché things that a spoiled rotten child would say when they don't get their way like "You don't love my anymore!", etceteras, etceteras. They returned to the castle with Marth still going at it. When he headed up to his room, Roy was waiting for him.

"So… What happened?" he asked.

Marth kicked Roy strongly in the stomach and pushed him out of his room. "IT'S _YOUR_ FAULT I DON'T HAVE SNUFFLES ANYMORE!" Marth slammed his door shut and stayed in there for the rest of the night, refusing to come out for anything. Roy sighed and staggered to his room, still smarting from his injury.


End file.
